Over 60 members and guests of St. Croix EDC attended a June 11th paddleboat tour of the St. Croix River Crossing project.
The 90-minute tour aboard the Avalon paddleboat was led by Jon Chiglo, PE, from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. He is the project manager for the river crossing project and also led the reconstruction of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis from 2007-2008. Chiglo discussed details of bridge, including the progress on the piers and towers in the water and the Wisconsin and Minnesota approaches.
Tim Mason, PE, is the WisDOT project manager for the St. Croix Crossing and he provided an update on construction activities in Wisconsin. The new interchange for Wisconsin Highway 64 and County Road E is being shaped by excavating contractors. Mason also reported that construction crews will pour concrete for the bridge deck of the Wisconsin Highway 35 overpass later this week. Traffic on Highway 35 has been detoured since mid-March, but the project is on schedule to open in early July.
The St. Croix River Crossing is a regional transportation solution for the Twin Cities and west central Wisconsin. It is scheduled for completion in mid-2016. The U.S. House and Senate approved an exemption to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in early 2012 to allow the project to move forward. Load tests to determine the stability of the bedrock beneath the river were conducted in mid-2012. In May 2013 numerous state, local, and federal officials gathered in Stillwater, Minnesota to mark the ceremonial start of construction on the project. By December 2013 the five sets of piers in the river were substantially completed and reached above the waterline. This spring, the contractors are setting forms and pouring concrete to shape the bridge towers atop the piers. A second construction shift was recently added to the project. Those hours are 5:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
Individuals interested in following the progress of the St. Croix Crossing can go to a live webcam at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/stcroixcrossing/webcam.
