The Jenkins Creek Bridge failed the stress test.

Scott Thomas, parks and recreation director for the city of Covington, said the span over the creek in the city-owned park was going to undergo a stress test in the near future at the hands of engineers.

“Our plan up until Sunday was… we had a proposal from an engineering firm to do a stress test on it so we could verify it was safe for pedestrian crossing,” Thomas said. “Then we were going to reinforce it so it was safe for pedestrian traffic … then start work on a replacement bridge.”

Instead, it got a real world test thanks to rising waters brought on by pounding rain brought in by a system that dumped record amounts of rain on the region, causing the bridge to collapse on Sunday, Dec. 11.

“It was 20 years old and clearly showing the signs of age already,” Thomas said. “The flooding was just too much for it.”

During this past week, workers have been removing debris from the creek, and by Friday morning the bridge was gone. All that left were the cement anchors for the bridge on either side of the creek.

“People were using it even after it had collapsed into the stream,” Thomas said. “Including kids (going to school) on Monday and Tuesday.”

The bridge was originally built in 1990 when the park was owned by King County. Covington received the park from the county in November 2002.

Because the bridge was part of a walking transportation corridor heavily used by residents of the Timberlane neighborhood to get to Covington’s downtown core, Thomas would like to find an interim solution, a temporary span until a permanent bridge can be built.

There are challenges, though, to deal with, Thomas said.

There’s no money in the city’s budget for that. And there’s no cash at hand for work on the permanent bridge, either, which would need to start from scratch.

“We don’t have the money at hand for design, permitting and project management, even if all the materials and labor were donated,” Thomas said. “Reaching out to another entity like the county or the state is unlikely because they’ve been cutting their budget. One of the things we’ll have to figure out is how will we pay for it because we’ve been cutting our budget for the past two years.”

The first order of business, however, was to deal with the emergency of an unsafe bridge collapsed into a creek in a city-owned park.

“Come January we’ll have to huddle and come up with a plan,” Thomas said. “Right now we’re looking at all the options.”

And while there isn’t any money for a temporary solution while the city looks for revenue for a permanent bridge, Thomas said, ” leaving that crossing empty until a permanent vehicle bridge can be designed and built, I just don’t see that, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that’s not that case.”

There have been a number of dedicated volunteers who have helped the city work to make Jenkins Creek Park, where the bridge is located, a safe and usable recreation option for residents of Covington.

Thomas said he is working with those volunteers, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission as well as the Timberlane Homeowners Association to try and come up with ideas as well as to communicate the message about the demolition of the bridge.

In an e-mail to volunteers, the HOA, Thomas said, “your brilliant ideas are more than welcome.”

A list of ideas for a temporary solution includes re-using a rail car, working with the metal workers union, acquiring a prefab pedestrian bridge, using an old bridge on neighboring property to the south or working another property owner.

“It was so powerful to me on Tuesday when I was there, a contractor was there looking to make the bid for taking the bridge and he said he saw 15 kids cross that bridge while it was collapsed into the creek,” Thomas said. “That pointed out to me it is how important that transportation corridor is, kids walk that way every day to school, people walk from Timberlane to downtown every day and not just a few people.”