photo courtesy of RTD

Crews demolish a new transit bridge in Denver shortly after its completion.

Crews from Denver Transit Constructors (DTC) demolished a major rail bridge in north Denver last month—just as the structure was nearing completion.

The 555-ft-long Jersey Cutoff Bridge, which began construction in August 2012, was torn down due to "design deficiencies," says Kevin Flynn, spokesman for the FasTracks Eagle P3 segment of Denver's Regional Transportation District, the project owner.

The Jersey Cutoff is one of 35 bridges DTC is building along the $1.3-billion Eagle P3 rail project.

It is the design-build contractor for public-private-partnership concessionaire Denver Transit Partners (DTP). The bridge was the only one designed as a cast-in-place structure.

DTP would not confirm that the cast-in-place design caused the flaws and also would not disclose the price of the original bridge or the replacement's design or potential cost.

However, the design-builder says it will pay for everything, as it is contractually obligated to do.

"It will cost taxpayers nothing," says Laura Rinker, DTP communications manager. She insists the rail line will meet its scheduled start date in early 2016.

The double-track Jersey Cutoff Bridge is a key piece of the shared alignment between two of the Eagle P3 lines, Flynn says.

The contractor informed RTD after site inspections this summer that the bridge likely would not last the 60 years required under the P3 agreement, he says.