Credit: Cornell News Service

A service project by Cornell students will bridge the gap between two community organizations and two Ithaca neighborhoods.

After four years of planning, a newly completed pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Cascadilla Creek will make it easier for residents of the Fall Creek and Northside communities to connect in many ways. The bridge is located behind the Sciencenter on First Street and across Willow Avenue from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County.

To mark the completion of the project, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Sciencenter have scheduled a celebration at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Representatives of the city of Ithaca will be present along with representatives from the Cornell Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) who helped with construction of the bridge. ASCE members designed the structure for a bridge as part of a service project and the city's Department of Public Works finished the project by building approaches to the bridge.

ASCE's 1997 faculty adviser, Charles Trautmann, is an adjunct associate professor in Cornell's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and executive director of the Sciencenter. He said, "The project gave the students a learning opportunity as well as a chance to make a lasting contribution to the community."

Trautmann noted that the bridge not only links two neighborhoods but gives Sciencenter and Cornell Cooperative Extension staff and volunteers easier access to each other. The two groups have worked throughout the years on many projects, including gardening and composting, and the new bridge continues to strengthen the link between the groups.

Paul Bonaparte-Krogh, executive director of Tompkins County Cooperative Extension, said: "This 'bridge to science' is a reminder of the learning partnership between the Sciencenter, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the community to put research and scientific knowledge to work."