Almost exactly nine months later, the southbound side of the bridge was opened. a major concern with the public at the time. MichiganDOT 6.12K subscribers June 3, 2014 -- This video is the latest in a series of In the Field video reports aimed at sharing innovations, research and new technology. One thing worth noting: Upon the opening of this bridge to traffic, it served a triple concurrency of I-75/U.S. Engineers said even after 35 years, its holding up well. High pressure injection SAGINAW, Mich. Friday marks 35 years since the Michigan Department of Transportation opened the Zilwaukee Bridge. The total launching girder apparatus weighs The first two of those still serve this route across the current Zilwaukee Bridge today, but U.S. 10 was scaled back to end . in the first place. Today, the Zilwaukee Bridge is the major artery connecting the north of Michigan to Detroit. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. A truck hauled the segments up one by one on a double-side trailer that allowed the truck to circle around after dropping the load and hitch back up on the other side. In 1978, the first shovels went into the ground to build high enough to allow high-speed traffic and freighters through at the same time. The construction of the structure was plagued with difficulties: when it was approximately half-complete, a major construction accident halted all work in August 1982. The northbound lane of bridge is now closed due to construction and will likely remain closed through July 4 . The Each one was closely inspected by a specially I say we go back to these days and watch the boats go by: 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids Four years later, MDOT announced a $70 million project to replace 154 of the bridges bearings, as well as to rebuild four miles of the freeway. of firmly tensioned steel cables. A contingent of lawmakers planned to tour the bridge today after a Saginaw News investigation sparked inquiries about the agencys investigation into the mishap. They rejected a proposed steel bridge in favor of a slightly cheaper concrete model estimated at $77M. The bridge has twin decks built of a series .004 inches (about the thickness of a human hair). it was issued prior to the completion of the bridge and is worded accordingly. We had to wait in line. The bridge wasnt even open for traffic yet at this point. The solution was ingenious: pipes filled with refrigerant were inserted into the bedrock and then frozen to create a firm foundation for the bridge. We lifted and tilted and jacked it into place. which are hollow and usually rectangular in shape. He has a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague, Czech Republic. News never stops. The tractor and trailer combined weigh 102 tons. The weight of the launching girder, combined with the truck carrying a and constructed is a post-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridge and work 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. trained, four-person team to ensure that they met predetermined standards It stands on its own steel legs The four-lane, bascule bridge (or drawbridge) opened in 1960. after it is opened to traffic. The Saginaw News reported on the price tag to keep the Zilwaukee Bridge free of snow and ice.The don't use cheap salt which would result in corrosion of. 21.6M vehicles cross each year. Traffic is being rerouted along as follows: Wednesdays - Saturdays concrete, forming another layer of protection for the steel cables. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Many of the original stainless steel and teflon bearings have been replaced with a plastic material. Construction began in 1979 with an expected completion date three years later, but the bridge was not available for traffic for nine years. time it opened for river traffic. And it wasnt just the cars that suffered. bascule bridge was permanently closed on that datebut only to automobile In the 1950s, Michigan expanded its transportation system expanding north from Saginaw and through Zilwaukee. With the coming of the Interstate Highway System in the late-1950s, the But in August of 1982, after more than half the bridge had taken shape disaster struck. The Zilwaukee Bridge along Interstate 75 over the Saginaw River. About 15 years after it opened, plans to replace it with a high-level bridge would start gaining steam, according to Michigan Highways. Traffic was shut down for about six months, before reopening in October of 2008. The original completion date for the Zilwaukee Bridge was November 1983. Workers then epoxy the segments together and run them through with steel tension wires. According to a story In August of 1982, just one year before the bridge was supposed to be completed, one of the temporary compression blocks failed and collapsed. This balanced group of four are installed. Related: The story of Metro Detroits Cold War nuclear missile defense system: The original homeland security. One place where this really became an issue was in the town of Zilwaukee, Michigan in the US. Lin International (TYLI) to perform construction engineering services. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River in the U.S. state of Michigan. It When It was only 150 feet wide and several ships ended up clipping the bridge, causing damage and even more traffic issues. Rated 5 / 5. traffic. the span for more than a year. one of the most spectacular bridges in the world. The Saginaw News article also details an instance where Michigan State Police raised the bridge to stop a fleeing criminal on I-75. 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. on the new structure commenced in late-1979 and was projected to cost approximately as well. pieces will fit perfectly when they are placed together on the bridge. truck. It helps prevent water and roadway contaminants The last one was cast in late 1986. Share YOUR roads!We'vemorethan 13.000 roads but we want more! Here's a copy of letters this week from an MDOT engineer to Kahn and from Kahn to MDOT's director about the Zilwaukee Bridge construction mishap. 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint. This was done because the truck and trailer wouldnt have enough space to turn around. no alterationsgrammatical or otherwisehave been made. be found in Section However, due to the accident and its subsequent repair work, construction Next: Section 4: The Accident text here is reproduced word-for-word from the original report and This helps to ensure that the bridge could withstand about twice as much weight as is predicted during peak traffic hours. The ship failed to respond after turning the bend near the bridge. consisted of the new four-lane, double-leaf bascule (draw) bridge and a feet in length to the huge I-205 Freeway Bridge, spanning the Columbia Bridge Construction Engineering. Why is the Zilwaukee Bridge so tall? It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. How to Survive and Journey through the Nanisivik Highway, The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road was closed permanently on April 2017, Dalton Highway is the loneliest road on Earth, Slettnes lighthouse: the road to the end of Europe, How to Stay Safe on Dangerous Roads: Preparing Your Car for Bad Weather Driving. 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. In fact, in 1979, the traffic jam was a whopping 56 miles long. Sometimes, the back-ups exceeded 30 miles and several hours in length. The segments were cast of specially designed concrete which is one-third The Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. A Saginaw News article from 1967 details another freighters crash into the bridge, causing traffic to be re-routed for a few days. added. the decision came to replace it with a high-level bridge. The website is for information purposes only and we assume no liability for decisions made as a result of the information provided here. Without the Zilwaukee Bridge, it would be much more difficult for drivers to pass through the region. The state spent $120 million to build the bridge but design problems and. Create an account to start this course today. concerns and painting costs with steel bridges. The mayor said he also is concerned about emergency responders having easy access to the city. 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. And thanks to Chris Bessert for compiling all of this great historical information. Michigan Highways > In Depth: The Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River in the U.S. state of Michigan.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.. Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning, Michigan That structure was supposed to be completed in 1983, but the collapse of a temporary compression block on an expansion joint in 1982 literally derailed the project. On example of a common but not simple auction is when the opponents compete vs. our 1NT Semi-Forcing bid. This drawbridge was meant to ease congestion, but made it worse as both vehicle and shipping traffic drastically increased. Kahn also expressed concern about future lane closures on the bridge. The compound gets rid of the ice without any worry of corrosion to the bridge. According to MDOT records, other proposals included barring river traffic, relocating the freeway and digging a tunnel under the river. in an MDOT-produced publication from the early-1990s: The It didnt really work, and Zilwaukee did not turn into Milwaukee. ), The The tractor simply delivers the segment Check back here for updates. But the state has about half a dozen spans, such as the Blue Water, Zug Island and Mackinac bridges, where it could apply lessons learned from the Zilwaukee Bridge mishap, he said. I believe it was demolished in 1989. A three-week project turned into six months, and crews ended up discovering that more than 30 of the new bearings werent properly designed and would not fit. We froze the ground below the pier, we abandoned the footing in place because the footing was completely destroyed. Technology for ost-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridges was developed MDOT's policy requires concrete cracks be repaired if they are larger than 23/U.S. The issue of one-way traffic is of great concern to local businesses and local government, he wrote in the letter to Steudle. Our concern is if they shut it down for one year in each way, it could have a major impact, Jolin said. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. They weigh between Were talking about, of course, the Zilwaukee Bridge. of an epoxy resin makes the repaired area stronger than the concrete was Thanks to the new bridge, it is easy to get over the Saginaw. dangerousroads.org is not responsible for the information contained in these pages. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. However, the most significant reason was the overloading of the expansion joint. The first two of those still serve this route across the current Zilwaukee Bridge today, but U.S. 10 was scaled back to end west of Bay City at around the same time that this bridge was replaced with that one. During a bearing replacement project, a contractor inadvertently cut through reinforced steel on the bridge, the agency has reported. A bit of a boring one, the Zilwaukee Bridge carries I-75 and US-23 over the Saginaw River and connects Zilwaukee with Zilwaukee Township. To protect them from corrosion, all the high strength, post-tensioned steel cables inside the . (MDOT/Michigan Highways). There have been some issues with ongoing maintenance projects through the years. The towns population, as of 2010, was about 1,600. There are more than 4,000 miles of post-tensioned steel cable in the 1.5-mile-long bridge. The main strength of the bridge comes from its 4,000 miles of steel tension cables hidden away in the concrete. 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