CARBONDALE, Colorado – The ancient “Pink Bridge” in Satank, just west of here, appears at long last to be getting a needed facelift.

“It’s in the budget,” said county manager Ed Green, referring to the county’s share of the roughly $800,000 it will cost to fix the historic bridge spanning the Roaring Fork River.

The Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 7 will be asked to approve a contract, worth up to $539,520, with Gould Construction. The contract is “for the rehabilitation and preservation of the Satank Bridge,” as stated in a memo to the BOCC.

The county last year agreed to accept a grant from the state of up to $297,500 to pay for half of the renovation of the structure.

Any costs not covered by the grant are being absorbed by the county, Green said.

Popularly known as the old “Pink Bridge,” the structure stretches across the Roaring Fork River from the Satank neighborhood on the southern bank, to a frontage road leading to Highway 82 on the northern bank.

It has been in place for nearly 110 years, although due to severe deterioration of the planking and other structural problems, it has been closed to vehicular traffic since 1994 and to pedestrian and all other users since 2003.

A group of local preservationists, lead by Carbondale council member John Hoffmann, has been working on the salvation of the bridge for more than a decade.

The project will involve lifting the bridge off its abutments, repairing both the bridge structure and the abutments, and then replacing the bridge on its new foundation.

“It took quite a bit of engineering,” said Green. “It’s not an easy project. It is pretty fragile.”

jcolson@postindependent.com