The Purple People Bridge may fully reopen in October, according to a board member, though permanent fixes may cost more than $200,000.
Members of the Newport/Southbank Bridge Board have two plans right now for the opening, including a short-term plan that could open the privately owned, pedestrian-only bridge by the end of October.
The bridge between Newport and downtown Cincinnati closed May 11 after a large stone fell from the bridge into the first pier on the Cincinnati side and created a safety hazard. Other stones were loosened as well, and it remains closed on the Ohio side.
Access reopened to pedestrians on the Newport side July 1.
The long-term plan would potentially have the bridge fully fixed by spring, said Jack Moreland, chairman of the board for Newport Southbank Bridge Co., the nonprofit organization that maintains the bridge.
"We don't have exact numbers, but we do not have in our budget to do the long-term fix first," Moreland said.
Throughout the pandemic, Newport Southbank Bridge Co. has only made 10% of the amount of money the company usually makes within a year, Moreland said. The only revenue the company makes is through events.
More:Boom on the Bridge returns this September, proceeds going toward Purple People Bridge repairs
All of the nine board members for the bridge are unpaid volunteers. The company pays a person to clean and maintain the bridge, electricity and gas for the bridge and a PR company to handle media.
Despite the pandemic, the company has the $30,000 that will be needed for the short-term fix for the bridge.
WSP USA Inc., the engineering firm hired by the bridge company, determined metal supporters between the bridge itself and the bridge approach are detached from one another, so that risk is contained to the Ohio-side approach, Moreland told The Enquirer in June.
The northernmost section of the bridge, called Pier 1, near the Cincinnati side, will be getting temporary beams, Moreland said.
"That section, under Pier 1, has to be jacked up and then we'll spread the load on that pier and that should take care of it for the short-term," he said.
The second and more permanent project would include replacing the area where four rocks fell from the bridge with sandstone rocks or concrete, he said. That fix is estimated to cost $200,000, and the company does not have enough money to finance that update to the bridge.
"The short answer to that is we do not have that money in our budget to do the long-term fix," he said.
It will take fundraising from private individuals, and though the company hasn't asked yet, it may take asking Newport and Cincinnati for assistance with the cost.
"We have kept the city of Cincinnati and the city of Newport advised as to exactly where we are," he said. "I can't speak for them in terms of whether they'd help us or not, but we'd certainly be pleased if they were inclined to do so."
In a nonpandemic year, the bridge was averaging 700,000 visitors a year, almost evenly split between people coming from Newport and those coming from Cincinnati, Moreland said.
The hope, he said, is for the bridge to be ready for use and fully fixed by spring.
There is no word yet if the bridge will need to close once again during the winter for construction.
Contact Briana Rice at 513-568-3496 or brice@enquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BriRiceWrites.
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