On the St. Croix River, big numbers for a big bridge

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.

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.

270 Ames/Lunda and Ed Kraemer and Sons workers currently on site.

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.

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 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

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.

End of 2014, weather permiting: Minnesota approach work completed.

Starts 2014, finishes 2016: Wisconsin approach work.

Fall 2016: Bridge opens to traffic.

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

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.