Video (00:37) : The St. Croix bridge project is well underway, including building approach highways on the Minnesota side and footings for the bridge piers.
By 2016, the metal superstructures rising out of the St. Croix River will eventually support the deck of the bridge — standing 15 stories above the water. Everything about the project is big.
1,300,000 Cubic yards of earth that will be removed for Minnesota's approach highways to the bridge.
400,000 Tons that five river piers will support.
92,857 Dump truck loads of earth hauled from the bridge site.
18,000 Estimated daily traffic count on new bridge.
10,000 Tons supported by each of 40 drilled shafts in the river.
5,027 Length, in feet, of the St. Croix River bridge when completed.
4,461 Total square feet of wall in reconstruction of scenic outlook. More than 95 percent remains original.
600 Navigation width between piers in feet, of the bridge over the water.
270 Ames/Lunda and Ed Kraemer and Sons workers currently on site.
208 Height, in feet, over the river. (About two times taller than the Interstate 94 bridge at Hudson, Wis.)
120 Depth, in feet, of bridge footings drilled below the river's surface.
117 Longest span, in feet, of beams on new Beach Road overpass.
87 Depth, in feet, of "muck" at bottom of river.
45 Percent completion of Minnesota approach work (new highways) leading to bridge.
38 Barges used in building bridge foundations.
6 Percent completion of the bridge itself.
0 Percent completion of Wisconsin approach highways. Work begins in 2014.
What's new
The Beach Road ramp to westbound Hwy. 36 closed permanently Oct. 7.
Single-lane traffic will move to newly constructed eastbound lanes of Hwy. 36 in late-October.
New ramp between Hwy. 36 and Hwy. 95 will open in late-October.
New Hwy. 95 will open in late October.
New Beach Road bridge will open in late November.
Near the Wisconsin bluffs, crews have begun clearing trees for a new access trail. They're excavating, preparing a trail surface, and planting trees. Crews also will install part of the drainage system that will connect to the bridge approach. No traffic delays are expected and work is expected to continue for three weeks.
A short-term partial closure of Lookout Trail will begin this week, but residents will have ongoing access. Crews will complete utility work.
What's ahead
Bridge foundation work in the St. Croix River is on schedule for completion by early 2014. Workers are drilling 40 caissons into the muck and bedrock. Caissons are 9-feet diameter steel casings. Crews drill them up to 120 feet below the river surface, then fill them with rebar and concrete to create foundations for the new bridge.
By November or December, reconstructed eastbound lanes of Hwy. 36 east of Osgood Avenue will open, as will the Hwy. 95 alignment near Hwy. 36.
The new Beach Road bridge will open by the end of November if weather allows. The old Beach Road bridge should be removed by late October. Hwy. 36 will not close during that removal.
Key dates
End of 2014, weather permiting: Minnesota approach work completed.
Starts 2014, finishes 2016: Wisconsin approach work.
Fall 2016: Bridge opens to traffic.
Completed 2017: Loop trail and Stillwater Lift Bridge conversion to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge
How to find out more
Online: www.dot.state.mn.us/stcroixcrossing/index.html.
Hot line: 1-855-462-7649.
Twitter: @stcroixcrossing.
Project office: 1862 Greeley St. S., Stillwater. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Peabody Avenue is back in business
The Peabody Avenue neighbors stranded when the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) closed their exit road now have a new and improved replacement.
Residents protested in May when they awoke on a Monday morning to find barricades. The only other exit from the tiny Oak Park Heights neighborhood, which has eight houses, is a steep street that's unusable in winter. Emergency vehicles and garbage trucks had trouble navigating without an exit road.
MnDOT spent about $5,000 to remove the original gravel road, which connected to a scenic overlook entrance. The new connection, directly to Lookout Trail, cost about $80,000 to build, said MnDOT spokeswoman Jessica Wiens. The cost included adding a culvert for stormwater drainage, raising the road to create a platform at the top that allows better sight distance and safer access to Lookout Trail, paving and erecting signs, she said.
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