Wildcat Canyon Regional Park extends from the Tilden Nature Area above the Berkeley hills in the south to historic Alvarado Park at the north end in Richmond. The entrance to Alvarado Park crosses over Wildcat Creek.

The existing crossing consists of a roadway on 45 feet of fill over two 10-foot diameter culverts. As part of their Wildcat Creek restoration project, the East Bay Regional Park District wants to replace the existing roadway fill and culverts with a new bridge that spans the creek from top-of-bank to top-of bank.

The new bridge will carry two 11-foot vehicular traffic lanes with 2-foot shoulders plus a 6-foot pedestrian sidewalk over Wildcat Creek. The alignment of the proposed bridge is nearly the same as that of the existing roadway. The profile grade will be at a constant slope between the approach roadway conform locations.

OPAC is engaged by the District to identify feasible bridge alternatives to replace the existing fill and culverts with a recommendation of the structure type to build and to prepare a Structure Type Selection Report documenting the findings. Three structure types consisting of Box Girder, Wide Flange Girder and Closed Spandrel Arch were developed for consideration.

Based largely on construction cost, the Box Girder is the recommended bridge type to build. Based largely on construction schedule, the Wide Flange Girder is the recommended bridge type to build. Based solely on aesthetics and historical considerations, the Closed Spandrel Arch is the recommended bridge type to build.