Wisconsin Bridges To Be Replaced in Three Weekends
By J.R. Manning
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Wisconsin DOT has announced an aggressive plan to replace three seriously deteriorating bridges, located in Wisconsin's busiest freeway interchange, by Memorial Day, 2010. Plans are to use building techniques that replace each bridge over a weekend, to minimize traffic impact.
The interchange, built in 1963, carries upwards of 350,000 vehicles per day. During the summer of 2009, WisDOT detoured large trucks around the interchange because of severe weight limits that were implemented. The interchange, located in western Milwaukee County, carries I-94, I-894, US 41 and US 45.
In a press release, Wisconsin DOT said, "Thorough investigations of the bridges conducted over the past three months show significant deterioration that prompted WisDOT to move forward immediately with plans to build new structures at the three locations."
Requests for proposals are out for ways to accomplish this monumental task. One plan calls for building the bridges at another location and swaping new for old over a weekend.
You can see a video report and more about the aggressive plan on the website of Milwaukee's Fox 6 News.
Impossible! While some engineers have fabricated steel arch bridges and placed them over the Autobahnen in Germany, including pedestrian bridges in Halle (Saxony Anhalt) and also the Dragon-Bridge near Ronneburg (see the structurae.net website for more details), all of them were 1/3 as long and 1/4 as wide as what WiDOT wants to propose. Engineers would literally have to fabricate over 10,000 tons of steel for each bridge and have them flown in by Chinook copters, which would cost more than is worth. Furthermore, officials forgot to figure in the columns, which may be just as bad as the roadway to the bridge itself. I think the plans are unrealistic and not in line with what travellers want. I would plan a 5-10 year project for that interchange and start with the worst bridge first. Tear one half down and replace it while allowing travellers to pass, then switch sides. It's cheaper and even safer.
JS
