Weather permitting, crews with bridge contractor Zenith Tech will start in mid-February, first demolishing the existing bridge.
(Photo courtesy of Integrity Grading & Excavating Inc., MSA Professional Services Inc. and WisDOT.)
Construction crews of Integrity Grading & Excavating Inc. are finishing work on the last of four ramps on a $22 million project to replace two bridges on I-39/94/90 at WIS 60. But the big job — replacing one more bridge — is still ahead.
"The northbound and southbound bridges on I-39 were in desperate need of repair," said Rebecca Woller, project manager and estimator of Integrity Grading & Excavating Inc. "The roadways had to be widened and the concrete that's on that section of the corridor is starting to fail. So, we worked as a team with the DOT to go in and do some patch work on the interstate. And then also, the ramps didn't have good visibility, so there are quite a few accidents in that area. This is the major travel corridor between Illinois and northern Wisconsin, so it's a very important project."
Work on the northbound bridge was finished just before Memorial Day. Once the last existing ramp is reconfigured into a diamond interchange with roundabouts, crews will get a break from the project over the winter before returning early next year for the final job, one that comes with a grueling schedule and tight deadline.
Weather permitting, crews with bridge contractor Zenith Tech will start in mid-February, first demolishing the existing bridge. As was the case last year, the demolition will be scheduled to take place over one evening with State Highway 60 remaining open with flagging closures.
"It was a big deal," Woller said of the project last year. "The bridge came down. We moved the concrete off the roadway so that we would be able to open to traffic in time. You are only allowed a small window of time for a nighttime closure."
Next, they went to work putting in place the new bridge, setting 13 girders in one day.
"We set the girders over the highway without lane closures," Woller said. "We were allowed flagging operations for only a 15-minute snap. Zenith Tech had only 15 minutes to roll up with a semi with the girders. Then the crane — there were two cranes — parked on the side of the road by the MSE walls would pick the girder up, swing it across the highway and get it in the exact right place, set it and be off at roadway. We're not allowed to stop traffic for more than 15 minutes."
Then they'd wait for traffic to clear and repeat the procedure all over again until the 13 girders were in place.
In addition to the bridge, on ramps and exit ramps, crews also lowered Highway 60 to resolve an unsafe visibility issue caused by a rise in the roadway, Woller said.
"We went through a bunch of rock excavation. A lot of it was not anticipated. I had to hire a blaster, there was that much rock."
Once work begins on the southbound bridge next year, crews will have until just before Memorial Day weekend — the start of the rush of traffic to northern Wisconsin summer cabins — to finish. Last year, work was completed four days early.
"This year when we started, we had a weird break in the weather, it was in the 50s," Woller recalled. "And we had good teamwork between all the subs. We put in the hours and manpower to get it done. It's like a dream team, really working well together and clicking. It takes lots of coordination and everybody really firing together. You can really see the results." CEG
Lori Tobias
Lori Tobias is a journalist of more years than she cares to count, most recently as a staff writer for The Oregonian and previously as a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.
Read more from Lori Tobias here.
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