For many southwest Des Moines residents, the effects of last winter's severe windstorm will be felt into the summer.

The Saltwater Park Bridge on Marine View Drive South, damaged on Dec. 14 and 15, remains closed.

Repairs to the bridge are scheduled to begin in early May.

The good news for local governments is that the federal government will pick up funding for 86.5 percent of the repair cost-about $1.3 million.

"The estimate to repair the bridge is about $2 million, so we have to find state transportation funds to completely pay for this major repair,' state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, noted.

The bridge project will delay another improvement project planned for this summer, according to Keiser.

The Woodmont Drive South approach to 16th Avenue South between South 260th Street and South 172nd Street was to be closed for about 25 days so it could be rebuilt.

But Keiser said that project will be put off until the bridge project is completed.

About 450 homes are along Marine View Drive. Commuters from Des Moines and Federal Way, as well as drivers seeking alternative routes to Interstate 5 and Pacific Highway South, also use the drive.

During the morning commute, approximately 1,750 vehicles drive on the road. Officials estimate a total of about 3,500 vehicles use it each day.

The route is also the entryway for the Saltwater State Park campgrounds under the bridge.

Some 400 to 500 people visit the park daily. During the summer, 12,000 campers go there, according to park staffers.

Soil around the two-lane, 770-foot-long bridge already was saturated by heavy November rainstorms when trees were blown down in the mid-December storm.

The falling trees weakened the southwest corner of the southern concrete cribbing retaining wall. The wall supported the southerly bridge approach.

When the wall shifted, it caused a steel cable reinforcing the crib wall to break. That allowed earth to slide down a steep slope under the bridge and undermined the south roadway approach.

The failed crib wall also shifted against the pier of the bridge superstructure, exerting pressure on the shallow bridge foundation.

The bridge was immediately closed and traffic detoured through a residential neighborhood.

An engineering consultant retained by King County subsequently recommended installation of a tied-back steel sheet pile wall, grout piles to stabilize soils and a reinforced concrete approach slab to help distribute traffic loads.

In 2006, $40,000 was allocated to stabilize the south approach with sheet piles.

The bridge was constructed by the state in 1934 as part of state Route 509. It was deeded to King County in 1993 and the area was annexed into Des Moines in 1997.