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NM Highway 50 Bridge Replacement Project on the Glorieta Battlefield National Historic Landmark

April 2020CONTROL NUMBER 5101290

22CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

AgendaIntroduction

Purpose and Need

Bridge Type Selection Process

Design Considerations

Selected Alternative

Next Steps

Questions

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IntroductionProject Design Development Team

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

• New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT)

• National Park Service (NPS)

Proposed Project

The NMDOT, in cooperation with FHWA, is proposing to replace Bridge No.397 located at Milepost 1.15 on N.M. Highway 50 east of Glorieta Pass, inSanta Fe County, NM. Additional proposed improvements include newapproach pavement and roadside barrier.

Bridge No. 397 over Glorieta Creek. View looking northwest along the NM 50 roadway centerline.

Bridge No. 397, View looking south (downstream) within the Glorieta Creek.

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

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Project LocationCONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

In the project area, N.M. Highway 50 traverses lands

managed by the US Department of Interior, National

Park Service, Pecos National Historical Park. The

entire project is within the boundaries of the Glorieta

Pass Battlefield National Historic Landmark.

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The project area extends about 400 feet east and west of Bridge No. 397within the NMDOT easement. Bridge No. 397 is a 23-feet long single spancast-in-place concrete deck that was built in 1923 and was widened in the1980s from 23 feet to 33.5 feet. Bridge No. 397 is not eligible for listing onthe National Register of Historic Places as a historic property. Bridge No. 397, View looking north (upstream) within the Glorieta

Creek.

Project Area

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397 View looking northwest on NM 50 near Pigeon’s Ranch and stone well.

Pigeon’s Ranch Building

Stone well

NM Highway 50

Bridge No. 397

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Purpose and Need

The project PURPOSE is to maintain safe and reliable infrastructure for the traveling public.

The project NEED is based on:

• Bridge age

• Poor bridge condition

• Low load ratings

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Bridge Type Selection ProcessBridge Type Selection Process

Based on inspection and testing, the design team determined that rehabilitation could not adequately address the functional considerations; therefore, several bridge types were considered for replacement:

1. A precast concrete slab bridge

2. Prefabricated modular steel bridge

3. Concrete box culvert

4. Concrete pipe arch

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Design Considerations

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

Right-of-way• Road easement is 60 feet wide

Construction Feasibility• Minimization of ground disturbance

• Minimization of construction vibrations

• Space available for construction access and

laydown of materials

• Local contractor expertise

• Distance to fabricators

• Timing and length of road closures

• Accelerated bridge construction

• First responders

Functional requirements• Meet current design standards

• Meet current drainage requirements

• Maintaining an open channel bottom

• Maintain same look and feel of existing bridge

Economics• Cost for construction

Future maintenance

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Design ConsiderationsNatural Resources• Spans Glorieta Creek, a perennial waterway with riparian

vegetation

Visual Landscape • Topography and landform

• Riparian zone

• Valley and hillside vegetation patterns

• Remains of apple orchard

• Views that were key to battle strategy

and events

• Standing structural remains of historical

activity which retain integrity (e.g.

Pigeon’s Ranch building, the stone well)

• Arrowhead Ruin and other

archaeological resources

• Route of Santa Fe Trail Stone well at Pigeon’s Ranch, circa 1930s (Museum of New Mexico negative No. 51739

Stone well at Pigeon’s Ranch, 2004. (NPS photo)

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

Glorieta Creek, a perennial waterway with riparian vegetation.

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Pigeon’s Ranch complex cluster, 1880 site plan (M. Joseph, 1994)

Bridge No. 397

Design ConsiderationsCultural Resources• The Santa Fe Trail, a National Historic Trail, and a pre-

1937 alignment of Route 66 are collocated with NM 50

• Within the Glorieta Pass Battlefield National Historic

Landmark

• Pigeon’s Ranch was used as a field hospital by both

Union and Confederate troops during the Battle of

Glorieta Pass, fought in March 1862, and an important

stop along the Santa Fe Trail.

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

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The SELECTED ALTERNATIVE is a 40 foot, single span, precast concrete slab bridge with open metal railing.Guardrail will be replaced and extended to meet current design standards and pavement approaches will bereconstructed, paved, and striped. The existing concrete abutments will be preserved to minimize grounddisturbance within the channel and the Historic Landmark.

Pigeon’s Ranch

Stone well

NM Highway 50

New Bridge

Selected Alternative

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Selected Alternative

East Bound Travel Lane

West Bound Travel Lane

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

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Bridge Demolition and Construction will require FULL ROADWAY CLOSURE for 7 Weeks.

An 18-mile DETOUR ROUTE from Bridge 397 to the Glorieta/I-25 interchange would utilize NM 50, NM 63, and the Rowe/I-25 interchange.

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

North

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Next Steps• Emergency response coordination

• National Park Service consultation

• State Historic Preservation Officer consultation

• FHWA 4(f) analysis

• NEPA documentation, May 2020

• Final Design, July 2020

• Construction, Spring 2021

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

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Please send written questions and comments to:

Dana Garcia, NMDOT North Region Design PDE

Attn: NM 50 Bridge Replacement, 5101290

1120 Cerrillos Road, NM 87505, Room 203

P.O. Box 1149

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

Email: dana.garcia@state.nm.us

Comments requested by May 8, 2020

ELECTRONIC SUBMITTALS PREFERRED

Project Resources will be available at NMDOT Web Page

http://dot.state.nm.us/en/ProjectsD5.html

Questions and Comments

CONTROL NUMBER 5101290, Bridge No. 397

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Thank you for your time.

Pigeon’s Ranch, ca. 1885, looking east. Photo by J.R. Riddle. Courtesy Museum of New Mexico Photo Archives, #76032