how to avoid zilwaukee bridge

He has a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague, Czech Republic. Zilwaukee Mayor Gene Jolin said he hopes the state will keep two-way traffic on the bridge when it starts a two-year deck replacement and bearing project in 2012. A midnight crew scrambled to safety as an overloaded thousand-foot-long bridge section shook, buckled and sagged. It took several hours for tugs to move the ship back into Saginaw Bay. While the remaining ramp connections were They look like this: According to Michigan Highways, MDOT engineer Matthew Chynoweth says the bearings for the Zilwaukee Bridge are getting worn out. fixed to the opposite end. However, the bridge caused long traffic jams whenever it opened, so local officials commissioned an alternative. This process is repeated until the entire span is closed. The largest segments http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/US-010.html. Todays Zilwaukee Bridge can be traced back to the 1950s, and the original two-lane highway bypass on the east side of Saginaw, which according to Michigan Highways was completed in 1953. It assures thatthe Next: Section 4: The Accident We want your experiences too! The tractor simply delivers the segment We lifted and tilted and jacked it into place. bascule bridge was permanently closed on that datebut only to automobile The project is expected to last through January 2015. It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. segments is then pulled together with high-strength steel cables, also In 1960, the new route opened -- and the Zilwaukee Bridge was born. As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Around 21 million vehicles a year ride up and over the Saginaw River. There are some things that were really exciting for us as kids, but which are pretty annoying as adults. MDOT said crews erected a steel reinforcement on the exterior of the bridge to ensure that the structural integrity of the bridge continues to remain sound. During a bearing replacement project, a contractor inadvertently cut through reinforced steel on the bridge, the agency has reported. Later during construction of new on- and off-ramps in the M-13 interchange on the bridge approach, workers uncovered an uncharted landfill containing PCB-contaminated waste, necessitating an environmental cleanup. directly on the bridge superstructure. on the new structure commenced in late-1979 and was projected to cost approximately The On August 28, the temporary compression blocks started to crush, and a 300-foot-long bridge section sagged five feet on one end and three-and-a-half feet at the other. All rights reserved. Add onto that the fact that the drawbridge span was pretty narrow, resulting in several ships running into the bridge and getting stuck, and it became pretty obvious that a new bridge was needed. Located in Zilwaukee, in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan, the Zilwaukee Bridge is one of the most spectacular bridges in the world. Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning. Six steps were required to bring the tilted 300-foot deck section back to its intened position. There has been a Saginaw bridge for nearly 70 years. Traffic is being rerouted along as follows: Wednesdays - Saturdays one of the most spectacular bridges in the world. It took a decade to complete and was so plagued with problems it came very close to not opening at all. The original bridge routed traffic through the small city of Saginaw. of firmly tensioned steel cables. it joins. While it may have seemed like a good idea in the late-1950s, soon after A December 1979 article in the Owosso Argus-Press noted in 1968, a City of Bay City official stated "the bridge even caused a 56-mile long traffic jam.". We are working to learn more information. Now, an average of 21.6 million vehicles cross the bridge per year. The After an extensive investigation, five separate factors were identified, but the main issue was that too much construction weight was placed on the joint while the deck was being built. Neither do we. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. the safety of the Zilwaukee Bridge, then nearing completion. accident, what caused it and what was done to remedy the situation can To use information contained on this site is to do so at your own risk. consisted of the new four-lane, double-leaf bascule (draw) bridge and a The bridge is built to carry more than double the heaviest traffic load expected during the worst traffic jams. Yes, the Zilwaukee Bridge of 1960 was a drawbridge. Top top it off, shipping traffic actually quadrupled in the years after After more than four years, MDOT announced a $70-million project to replace 154 of the bridge's bearings as well as rebuild four miles of the I-75/US-23 freeway between the I-675 junctions, replace the Janes Ave overpass, and repair and widen the Wadsworth Rd and CSX Railroad underpasses to the south of the bridge. 0:00 / 1:50 The history, design and construction of the Zilwaukee Bridge 30 Years Later MLive 423K subscribers Subscribe 20 3.5K views 5 years ago Saturday, Dec. 23 2017 will mark the 30th. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River in the U.S. state of Michigan. bridge was opened to traffic on Monday, September 19, 1988. We have some major businesses here in town that must have that expressway open.. The river serves as the boundary between Zilwaukee Township and the city of Zilwaukee at this point, which is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Saginaw. The shifting of the deck destroyed the bearing, damaged the pillar and foundations, broke apart concrete slabs of the deck, and misaligned other joints in the structure. through downtown via US-10 and US-23. traffic. The total cost of the bridge project was around $127 million, with the federal funds paying for 90 percent of it, according to MDOT records. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Here are some facts, myths and statistics about the bridge, which turns 30 this weekend. However, construction of the new segmental concrete bridge ran into trouble in 1982 when an expansion joint was overloaded, crushing the temporary expansion block. This important artery allows traffic to move through the area without. This is the first time it has ever been an issue.. After the termination of the original contract, the state found a new contractor to continue work. Another important step is taken to protect steel cables from corrosion. As a child, watching the bridge open and close was pretty cool, but when you're an adult, running late for work and stuck in traffic, the magic is kind of lost. added to one end of the completed group, and then a balancing segment is It also damaged the pier underneath. 120 and 160 tons. polychorinated biphenyl will cost at least $100,000 and could delay completion in the early-1980s which added many millions to the cost and years to the I feel like its a lifeline. Department of Transportation issued a report detailing the background inch in diameter. David J. Herber, L & B Cartage vice president, said bridge lane closures have cost the drivers of the companys 43 vehicles time and money. Segments the bridge was completed and the back-ups on the freeway reached three Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. A 1960 article in the Lansing State Journal reported about a German-registry lake freighter, carrying 4,300 tons of scrap steel, slamming into the draw bridge after the bridge was jammed in the open position. 107. since the bridges construction in the 1980s, the agency has used However, construction ground to a halt in 1982 when a significant accident paralyzed work. Its purpose, though, was largely as a seal to keep out water and roadway contaminants. Zilwaukee Bridge is ahigh level bridge carrying I-75 [and US-23] over to four hours in duration and often up to 30 miles in length. A Saginaw News article from 1967 details another freighters crash into the bridge, causing traffic to be re-routed for a few days. In 1960, the first If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. girder. Construction of the bridge would resume. Clearly, a new solution was needed. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer. Posted July 9, 2019, by Melissa Brand-Welch, National Bridge Inventory 2021: (Nearby Bridges), Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States, http://bridgehunter.com/mi/saginaw/saginaw-river/, July 9, 2019: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch, November 13, 2018: New photo from Douglas Butler, October 6, 2018: New photos from Douglas Butler, August 6, 2014: New Street View added by Douglas Butler. after it is opened to traffic. Create your account. 10. Crews removed some of the concrete material making up the bridge itself and removed the original bearings, then installed the new ones along with an inch of concrete grout. Periodically flooded roads around the world. The final bridge design selected being completed at either end of the new bridge, it was discovered one The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The Zilwaukee Bridge has some impressive specifications. Authorities chose the lower-cost option. Traffic heading north each weekend, and south when the weekend is over, will still be able to traverse three lanes on the bridge. Traffic heading north each weekend, and south when the weekend is over, will still be able to traverse three lanes on the bridge. It There will be about 27,000 miles of eighth-inch wire in the completed 1.5-mile-long bridge. Almost exactly nine months later, the southbound side of the a major concern with the public at the time. problems concerned the massive traffic tie-ups on the freeway each time Chris has a master's degree in history and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado. At the time, the project was the largest pre-cast concrete segmental bridge in the United States, and the largest project the MDOT had ever undertaken. (MDOT/Michigan Highways). Each cable is stretched with hydraulic jacks, stressed to nearly 200 tons, The Zilwaukee Bridge is one of the few, if not the only, bridge in Michigan that doesn't use salt to de-ice the roadway, an MDOT official said. Segments are transported from the fabricating plant to the bridge by a They rejected a proposed steel bridge in favor of a slightly cheaper concrete model estimated at $77M. The freighter was fine but the bridge suffered substantial damage. While the Zilwaukee Bridge is a bit shorter than the Mackinac Bridge, it is much wider. Our concern is if they shut it down for one year in each way, it could have a major impact, Jolin said.