Potential designs chosen for new Broadway Bridge

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Thousands of Arkansans, many of whom drive across the Broadway Bridge every day, have spoken. There are two winners of the New Broadway Bridge Design Competition.

The first is a cable stay bridge designed by Bob Dahms, who works for the Army Corps of Engineers.

"I just did it as a lark to kind of be a part of it," said Dahms, "and I had no idea that it would go this far."

The other winner is a combination of a suspension bridge and an arch bridge designed by Architect Randy Murphy.

"What we're building there is monumental. People poo-poo that term, but there is a place for it. Right there I think is a place for it," said Murphy while pointing at the current bridge.

You might be wondering though, how can there be two winning designs for one bridge? The truth is, the final design might not look anything like either of the winners.

That doesn't surprise Murphy, who said, "I don't harbor any undue expectations that what I designed is going to be built."

The reason? The Highway Department has the final say on the new bridge's design. State leaders, who came up with the idea of the competition, hope the winning designs are incorporated in the final design.

For the record, that's just fine with two talented designers.

"I would like to be involved with it, but I understand the complicated nature of undertaking something like this," said Murphy.

Added Dahms, "it's going to be totally overwhelming to think that I had a part in really any bridge design they put in."

Whatever the Broadway Bridge ends up looking like, we probably won't see it for a while. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2013.