Roger Deschner

The bridge was reopened with appropriate pomp and ceremony on July 1, 2019. Article: https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/winona-bridge-is-bac...

This has got to be a big win-win for both historic bridge preservation and infrastructure upgrades, proving that the concept of reusing the historic bridge as half of a one-way couplet is valid and working, with some compromises like losing parts of the approach spans to keep it within budget.

An arch/cable suspension bridge over a harbor in Taiwan collapsed earlier today. Several people injured, and an oil tanker truck that fell on fishing boats burst into flames. From the video, it looks like a hanger cable broke loose from the deck, and it turned out to be "fracture critical". There had been a typhoon in the area a couple of days before, though the weather was clear when the collapse happened. There has been speculation that the storm weakened the bridge.

CNN got the two best live videos of the collapse as it happened. https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/10/01/taiwan-nanfangao... These videos will certainly be important in determining why it collapsed.

Demolition of this bridge is underway now. I'm glad I was able to photograph it back in April.

State Street underneath it is closed to traffic until October 5, 2019. I have not heard how rail traffic is affected.

This bridge has been closed twice in the past year due to barge collisions. Perhaps there is some kind of navigation problem here.

Temporarily closed due to flood damage to US-136 on Missouri side in 2019 Missouri River flood. No mention of damage to the bridge itself, so it's probably OK. A local I talked to, who was using a flooded road as a makeshift boat ramp, said that US-136 on the Missouri side was "all tore up". Closest bypasses are US-34 or US-36.

This photo is from the Nebraska side.

Having said this threatened bridge was one of my favorites, I figured I had to upload my own best photos of it.

Even though it crosses the state line in the middle of the river, it appears from the highway signs at its west end, that the state of Iowa considers the whole bridge to be route WI-82.

I was just in Winona. The project is nearing completion - with a significant improvement.

The only part of the approach spans that has been replaced is the westernmost portion, which I believe was originally steel stringer. The deck truss portions of both approach spans appear to have been preserved and rehabilitated, along with the main through truss span. On the west, the two highest deck truss approach spans, and the entire deck truss east approach, have been kept and rehabilitated. Though the westernmost section is now a UCEB, at least the new bents have a similar form to the rest of the original bridge. This should be regarded overall as a win.

This bridge will reopen soon to eastbound one-way traffic. A 78 year old steel truss bridge, renewed for another 78 years. I bet it outlasts the new concrete box girder bridge parallel to it.

WI 82 has been reopened across the bottomlands approaching this bridge from the east, per https://511wi.gov/

The Black Hawk Bridge is one of my favorites, especially among Mississippi River spans. Up there with the Eads, Dubuque, both Huey Longs, and the sadly lost Savanna-Sabula bridges. How does a cantilever bridge work? Just look at the Black Hawk Bridge - it's quite obvious.

National Trust for Historic Preservation has named this bridge on its "11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2019". You can see the list, a photo of the bridge, and a link to a petition to save the bridge, at https://savingplaces.org/stories/11-most-endangered-historic...

This is a great honor for those working to preserve this landmark bridge, as they continue to fight to save it.

Darwin award: "2 Texas men die trying to jump car over open drawbridge" It was this bridge.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-texas-men-die-trying-...

Westbound span has been partially reopened. Two lanes open at morning rush hour, one lane at all other times, while repair work proceeds. It is load-restricted.

https://www.modot.org/node/8213

Amazing. This modern bridge is only 35 years old, and it's falling apart. Meanwhile the older Mississippi River bridges in the St. Louis area continue to last with careful routine maintenance - Eads, Martin Luther King, even the unliked Poplar Street Bridge is older and has stood up better.

Perhaps tied arches should be considered to have short lifetimes? I note that the tied arch I-280 bridge (built 1970) over the Mississippi at the Quad Cities had its condition downgraded to "3-Serious" for superstructure.

The illegal scrapper is trying to get away with it in court. He's a common thief who deserves jail time.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-h...

All of the 120 year old bridges of the St. Charles Air Line are scheduled for replacement in 2019, including this one. But this is the one that will be the most painful loss, due to its highly attractive decorative elements. It's also in relatively good condition, compared to the others, and could be fixed rather than replaced.

Bridge is doomed because a contract has been let to rebuild the whole interchange.

The bents on this 60 year old bridge are of a distinctive style, different from later concrete beam bridges. It's also interesting that this bridge consists entirely of beams. There is no deck between beams, just beams laid right next to one another.

The July 2018 inspection report is interesting, pointing out a tree growing from a bent cap. It contains a cautionary note about removing it to prevent concrete splitting. So I wonder if that tree had anything to do with this beam collapse? The report contains lots of good photos of a bridge that is actually now historic, and doomed, as well as damaged.

https://WRCB.images.worldnow.com/library/52d21583-4388-4f82-... (This is a pdf.)

I live in the area, and cross this bridge from time to time. It has certainly been in the news lately, especially after the Lake Shore Drive bridge partial collapse two weeks ago. As bad as its structural condition is, it is perhaps worse functionally - it's a huge bottleneck. It carries 10,000 trucks per day, a reason for both its physical condition, and its traffic congestion.

What is needed is a 4-bridge solution. Build two new bridges on either side of the existing bridges. Divert all traffic to them and totally rehabilitate the old bridges. With no traffic on them, this could be done really well. When done, keep the two new bridges as service/feeder/collector roads to keep the local traffic off the main roadway, and eliminate a couple of suicide merges approaching the bridges. The existing bridges are each already 3 lanes wide, which will be adequate for the mainline once the bad merges and local traffic are diverted to the new service road bridges.

A phased 4-bridge approach like this could both solve the traffic issues here, and preserve the historic but inadequate and crumbling bridges. This would be a win-win, compared to the proposed solution to tear down the existing bridges and replace them with new, wider bridges. This isn't just any road, it's Interstate 80. Complete replacement would be as bad as a failure - several years of a devastating regional and transcontinental traffic nightmare.