MnDOT barricades Hwy. 43 bridge in Winona

Minnesota transportation officials abruptly shut down yet another bridge over the Mississippi River Tuesday evening.

State officials closed the Hwy. 43 bridge at Winona for at least several weeks after an inspectors discovered corrosion and holes in the 67-year-old bridge's gusset plates, said Khani Sahebjam, deputy commissioner and chief engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The inability to use the bridge, a vital regional link between Minnesota and Wisconsin, will be a major nuisance for those living in the southeastern corner of the state. Without it, river-crossing commuters will face 70 to 105 miles of extra driving per day via other bridges south or north of Winona.

The closing is the latest example of the state's increased vigilance on aging bridges in the aftermath of last year's collapse of the Interstate 35W collapse in Minneapolis.

The bridge is the main artery between Winona, a town of about 30,000 people nestled along the Mississippi River bluffs, and the Wisconsin communities of Fountain City and Arcadia. It becomes Hwy. 54 on the Wisconsin side of the river.

Those who use the bridge now will have to drive about 35 miles upriver to Wabasha for the nearest river crossing or 30 miles downriver to La Crosse, turning the trip into a round trip of 120 miles or more. The detour will not only be time-consuming for residents on both sides of the river but a financial burden as gas prices soar.

"There's a significant number of people from Wisconsin who work here ... and we get a lot of people who come here to shop,'' said Winona Mayor Jerry Miller. "This will put a bit of a wrinkle into things. ...You folks in the Twin Cities are used to those long drives. But people down here aren't."

On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation began an inspection of the gusset plates on the high truss bridge, which was built in 1941. Such plates hold together a bridge's beams and are suspected in the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

The inspection is part of a statewide review of 23 bridges that are similar in structure to the 35W bridge. The effort, ordered by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in January, includes a review of each bridge's original engineering calculations as well as on-site inspections.

In March, the Hwy. 23 bridge in St. Cloud was permanently closed after an inspection revealed bent gusset plates. Residents there have been detoured a few blocks to the nearest Mississippi River crossing.

Then, in May, it was announced that the recalculations for the Blatnik Bridge in Duluth produced some numbers that MnDOT wasn't comfortable with, so repairs to that bridge are underway.

Besides the rust and corrosion found on the Winona bridge, inspectors have discovered some buckling of a gusset plate in one location on the deck truss portion. Crews expect to finish the inspection by Friday.

Sahebjam said a preliminary analysis of the bridge's condition probably will take two weeks. Transportation officials can then decide what traffic weight will be allowed.

"Because of the unusually long detour, we'll look at options that may include allowing pedestrians to use the bridge and emergency vehicles,'' Sahebjam said.

A more complete analysis of the bridge probably will be completed by July, he said. At that point, transportation officials should know whether the bridge can be repaired or whether it has to be replaced, Sahebjam said. The bridge had been scheduled to be replaced in 2017.

About 11,600 vehicles cross the 2,289-foot span daily. The bridge, which was remodeled in 1985, was inspected in April and August 2007. But at that time, the focus was not on the gusset plates, Sahebjam said, but rather on the main teams, the standard practice at the time.

Miller said officials will meet today with representatives of industries in town to discuss ways to get people across the river. Winona has more than 100 manufacturing companies, he said.

One possibility is to have people park on either side of the bridge and then walk across it, he said. Buses could then take people to their jobs. Another possibility is to find rental units for people who work on either side of the bridge, Miller said.

And maybe a ferry could move people across the river, he said.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788