The Spokane County Public Works Department will replace the existing Christensen Road Bridge spanning Deep Creek in western Spokane County, Washington. This project was federally funded and administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The total length of the project was 0.02 miles and included removal and replacement of the existing Christensen Road Bridge. Both the new bridge and the roadway will remain in their general original footprint with some widening.
Project plans included replacing abutments in their current location, and approaches will receive fill to create a uniform approach. The proposed improvements are limited to an existing modern transportation infrastructure environment, and natural land surfaces within the project have been altered by road and bridge construction, and an underground utility. The pedestrian survey of the proposed undertaking revealed no Native American cultural materials or features. The Project Area has been subject to at least one fill episode during bridge construction and the three shovel probes confirmed this with one chert flake recovered from the same fill matrix as barbed wire, aluminum foil, and bottle glass.
The Christensen Road Bridge was constructed in 1924, replaced in 1958, rebuilt in 2003, and is now slated for replacement. At the time of the cultural resource survey, the structure was in a state of deterioration, having been “band-aided” structurally. It was inventoried, and determined not eligible for listing on the NRHP. The proposed undertaking resulted in No Historic Properties Affected, and no further archaeological investigations were recommended prior to, or during, execution of this project.
Location: Spokane County, Washington
