If you haven’t driven down Riverside Drive lately, you might surprised to see that construction is already well underway on the new Gateway Bridge, a pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River in Tulsa, and they’re making fast progress.

They just started in August, and already, five concrete bridge columns are built, and four of the giant steel arches are sitting atop them, spanning about 400 feet across the western side of the Arkansas River.

“The bridge will be complete in the early part of 2023, so the January, February, March time frame,” said Tulsa Gathering Place LLC Executive Director Jeff Stava.

At the same time as the bridge is being built, crews are also constructing a new low-water dam.

The dam is expected to be completed a few months after the bridge, but Stava says they are hoping they can finish the plazas where the bridge connects to each bank of the river at the same time as the bridge, so that the bridge can be used right away.

“We’re hoping to get enough of the plaza open and connected to the River Parks trail system that you’ll be able to use the bridge, and you’ll actually see the rest of the construction for 6 months being completed,” he said.

He says the new dam is taller, and the gates can now open lower, so the new Zink Lake will be deeper and won’t fill up with silt like the old one did.

On the east bank, there will be a takeout for boats and other watercraft and a flume for white water rafting and kayaking.

He says that Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum was able to raise around $7.25 million in private donations, so that nearly every extra aesthetic design element in the original concept, like special lighting, will be included.

Listen as Jeff Stava gives a tour of the new bridge

©2021 Cox Media Group