The Wohler Bridge over the Russian River will stay closed past its planned Oct. 30 reopening. Sonoma County now expects to open it sometime this winter.
The new schedule came in a project update in Supervisor Lynda Hopkins’ Oct. 13 newsletter. Some of the remaining work, including the new concrete deck, depends on the weather, and the project team wants room in the schedule as the rainy season starts, the update said.
The one-lane bridge, completed in 1922, carries Wohler Road over the river between Westside Road and Eastside Road. It’s getting an $18 million seismic retrofit: a new lightweight concrete deck, seismic isolation bearings and joints, and reinforcement of the steel truss and the foundations. The federal Highway Bridge Program committed to paying the full cost, which the county put at $17,994,621.
The original schedule
When the Board of Supervisors awarded the contract to Ghilotti Construction Co. in February 2024, the county said it expected the work to be done by the end of 2025. In March 2025, the county said the project was entering its “second and final year of construction,” with the bridge closed from April 1 to Oct. 15, 2025.
Hopkins’ newsletters in June, July and September of this year said the bridge would stay closed to all traffic through October.
Where the work stands
Crews have replaced eight of the bridge’s 12 bearings, at Piers 2, 4 and 5, according to the update. Work on the last four, at Pier 3, is starting. Crews have finished installing the corrugated metal pan decking and the steel studs that will tie the new concrete deck to the bridge, and have begun forming the edges of the deck. They have worked most Saturdays and some Sundays since Labor Day.
Next comes the rebar for the deck. If the weather cooperates, the deck is tentatively set to be poured over three days in mid-October.
The concrete will then need time to cure before the bridge can reopen. Crews also still have concrete repairs, curbs, the bridge surface, expansion joints and striping to finish.