This process is repeated until the entire span is closed. The State Journal story from Nov. 11, 1960. The bridge was built segment by segment, working from one end of the river toward the other side. text here is reproduced word-for-word from the original report and 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. Department of Transportation, Zilwaukee Bridge: (AP Photo/Michael Hollenbeck/The Saginaw News. The deck itself was able to be aligned back into place and the pier underneath was then heavily reinforced. On December 7, 2012 the Detroit News reported that a $70 million MDOT program would commence the following April to replace 154 bearings, rebuild 4 miles of I-75, replace the Janes Road bridge, and repair the CSX and Wadsworth Road rail bridges in the area. As an aid in joining each precast piece to its mate, high-strength epoxy of Jason Hill: Zilwaukee Gallery, Michigan in Pictures: The Zilwaukee Bridge, Zilwaukee All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. . You are being asked to avoid the area. Deck width: 74.0 ft. Also called I-75 Saginaw River Bridge Approximate latitude, longitude +43.48232, -83.91243 (decimal degrees) girder. It tried to drop an anchor, but it was too late -- the ship slammed into the southbound bridge. 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. They look like this: According to Michigan Highways, MDOT engineer Matthew Chynoweth says the bearings for the Zilwaukee Bridge are getting worn out. 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint. cannot effectively be injected or sealed. In an August 22, 1989 article, The Construction crews began work on a major renovation project on the Zilwaukee Bridge this week. and one set outside were specially tailored to cast the 1,592 segments Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. in 1953. The report found that undocumented field changes occurred during construction.". The bridge has twin decks built of a series (Thanks to Claire Kerk for the tip!). Or are you better off taking a different route? In 1960, the new route opened -- and the Zilwaukee Bridge was born. 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. With fuel prices the way they are, every mile extra hurts.. On Tuesday, September 22, 1987 the final 117-ton piece Ground view shows massive dimensions New bearings of "high-density plastic material" will give the bridge a much longer life: The bridge project, along with other nearby bridge and highway projects, are expected to cost $70 million. In 1960, the first 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. pieces will fit perfectly when they are placed together on the bridge. Insofar as that is the case, we will have continuing problems with repairs, whether its bridges, roads or any other construction projects that the state of Michigan has undertaken.. However, the size of interstate traffic was simply not appropriate for a small citynor did many drivers want to slow down on their way north to rural areas or south to Detroit. polychorinated biphenyl will cost at least $100,000 and could delay completion They weigh between A track-mounted crane atop the launching For the first three years, everything went according to plan, and all of the piers were constructed on schedule. The two new segments then are stressed to the In 1979, with its Joint Venture partner Stevin Construction, Toebe won the contract to construct the Zilwaukee Bridge near Saginaw, Michigan. The state fired the original contractors and the constant bridge problems started getting heat from angry legislators in Lansing. are installed. This important artery allows traffic to move through the area without entering downtown Saginaw. The state spent $120 million to build the bridge but design problems and. These bearings do require extensive maintenance and replacement, as they see more wear and tear than typical construction elements might. are 73.5 feet wide and either eight feet or 12 feet long. Its also one of Michigans most storied. northeast of the city. The first two of those still serve this route across the current Zilwaukee Bridge today, but U.S. 10 was scaled back to end . Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). of concrete was installed on the bridge and the northbound lanes of the I-75/US-23 freeway 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. News never stops. Create an account to start this course today. 10. TIL of Zilwaukee, a town in northern Michigan. Adding insult to injury, the contractor discovered that more than 30 of the new bearings weren't properly designed and would not fit where they were to be installed. Then again, there's not much about THIS bridge that I had known prior to when I first visited this website last year. be found in Section As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major The current eight-lane structure, completed in 1988, is the second such bridge at this location, replacing . Cables in the bridge run through galvanized steel ducts that have been 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. 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. Without the Zilwaukee Bridge, it would be much more difficult for drivers to pass through the region. River at the border of Washington and Oregon, opened in 1982, and the new We need to make sure that we have good agreements with partner about how our bidding changes when the opponents come into the auction. deck of the old drawbridge now rests on the bottom of Lake Huron as a fish In this installment, MDOT. repairs as well as a discussion of the safety of the bridge, which was Posted December 22, 2019, by Mike Kerkau (mjkerkau [at] gmail [dot] com) One thing worth noting: Upon the opening of this bridge to traffic, it served a triple concurrency of I-75/U.S. two-lane highway bypass on the east side of the City of Saginaw completed The current eight-lane structure, completed in 1988, is the second such bridge at this location, replacing a four-lane bascule bridge constructed in 1960. Use our interactive map to explore the roads or just discover them by browsing the site. There were engineering calculations done that said this needs to be here and this load needs to be here and this counterweight needs to be here6 and it simply was not followed, former MDOT Chief Bridge Engineer Matt Chynoweth said. 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. Unfortunately, shipping increased fourfold in the early 1960s; and each time the drawbridge opened, cars would back up for miles. the safety of the Zilwaukee Bridge, then nearing completion. Authorities chose the lower-cost option. which are hollow and usually rectangular in shape. girder picks up the segments from the truck and delivers them to the location The tractor simply delivers the segment A midnight crew scrambled to safety as an overloaded thousand-foot-long bridge section shook, buckled and sagged. computer-aided design drawings for projects built since the mid-1990s. Information. originally and prevents water seepage. It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. 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. Aerial map of Zilwaukee Bridges by Chris Bessert/Michigan Highways. A 69 News crew is at the scene of this developing story. In 2008, a $3.3 million construction project to replace bridge bearings hit a snag. 195 lessons. We want your experiences too! In May of 1987, the Michigan Zilwaukee Bridge is ahigh level bridge carrying I-75 [and US-23] over The original When two adjacent Almost exactly nine months later, the southbound side of the There were discussions about abandoning the project completely. Crossing the Saginaw River may have been exciting for kids who liked drawbridges, but enough adults became tired of the constant traffic that a new structure was needed. The first contract totaled $75 million. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. The Zilwaukee Bridge was conceived as a way around I-75's drawbridge, called a bascule bridge, over the Saginaw River. Zilwaukee Bridge. From MDOT: New guidelines recommend early, aggressive treatment for childhood obesity, Deaf student's Michigan lawsuit at center of Supreme Court case, Michigan secretary of state outlines policy hopes for legislative session, State survey: UP wolf population stable, may have reached capacity, Michigan to begin distributing $81 million opioid settlement money, How an 'anti-planner' helps artist with ADHD get stuff done, Price tag for keeping the Zilwaukee Bridge clear of ice and snow, I-75 North will continue across the bridge, I-75 South will shift onto I-75 northbound lanes and over the bridge. Of The bridge was only 150 feet wide and several ships actually hit For five years, it has routinely stored blueprints electronically, he The Zilwaukee Bridge is a massive segmental concrete bridge that carries the I-75 over the Saginaw River in Michigan. It was actually a four-lane draw bridge and a freeway beginning at the northern end of the. The Saginaw Township Republican indicated he wants to avoid a repeat of a snafu that forced thousands of motorists to detour from the northbound lanes of the Zilwaukee Bridge for most of 2008. On precast segmental bridges, the concrete segments must be delivered The concrete bid was $76.8 million. completed. project later in the decade. of the new bridge as segments are erected one against another and are post-tensioned After eight years of construction, the northbound lanes of the Zilwaukee Bridge were opened Dec. 23, 1987. All rights reserved. He has a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague, Czech Republic. The incident in August 1982 was caused by a large amount of mispositioned weight during the installation of a segment between two piers, according to MDOT. The $3.3 million project was further hindered when crews determined that more than 30 new bearings were not designed properly. Each is formed by 12 strands The concrete segments were built nearby, at a facility constructed for the project. beginning at the existing route (Dixie Hwy) in Bridgeport, continuing northerly Many more steel tendons are stressed at this time to make the two spans It is also exceptionally tall to allow shipping to pass beneath the bridge. completion. The compound gets rid of the ice without any worry of corrosion to the bridge. This balanced group of four To make sure the its integrity would not be compromised, crews installed steel reinforcement on the bridge's exterior. This was I am requesting a rigorous examination of the lane traffic and am seeking alternative plans that might help keep two-way traffic open during the construction process.. It needs to hold up about another 50 to 60 years considering it could take roughly $1 billion to replace it. This was done because the truck and trailer wouldnt have enough space to turn around. But work didnt resume after the accident until 1984, with a new contractor. The 4-lane highway crossed the Saginaw River as a draw bridge. Traffic shifted between I-75/US-23 and I-675 twice weekly to ensure three lanes were open in the direction of peak travel. Ha! By the end of the next year, the original 1953 US-23 bypass There have been some issues with ongoing maintenance projects through the years. Learn about the Zilwaukee Bridge on the Saginaw River, its history, and its height. Zilwaukee Bridge - Old. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a.high level bridge carrying I-75 [and US-23] over the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee. The Z-Bridge, as it has come to be called, has a rich and, at times, dangerous history, but its without a doubt one of the best-known bridges in Michigan. The setback took two years and $6 million more unbudgeted dollars. SAGINAW, Mich. - Friday marks 35 years since the Michigan Department of Transportation opened the Zilwaukee Bridge. Why is the Zilwaukee Bridge so tall? Great Lakes freighter traffic would force it to open about three times a day. The accident delayed construction for over 2 years.Pic: http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. Share YOUR roads!We'vemorethan 13.000 roads but we want more! 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.". The issue of one-way traffic is of great concern to local businesses and local government, he wrote in the letter to Steudle. Construction efforts hit a major setback in August 1982, when, among other, less-significant causes, mispositioned weight crushed a temporary block placed in an expansion joint. Published: Jan. 16, 2023 at 8:39 AM PST. Most roads are bridges are simple structures, he said. Rated 5 / 5. The bearingsdesigned to support up to 8 million pounds eachrequire replacement because of normal wear and tear since the bridge's opening in 1987. MDOT spokesman William L. Shreck said old construction plans are not a new issue, but the problem with the Zilwaukee Bridge was. The original completion date for the Zilwaukee Bridge was November 1983. During bridge maintenance, I-675 is used as a detour route for traffic. After the completion of the new bridge, the Zilwaukee Bridge experienced a stretch of mostly peace for cars and freighters alike. The main strength of the bridge comes from its 4,000 miles of steel tension cables hidden away in the concrete. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning. $ 3.3 million construction project to replace it in northern Michigan bridge today, but the problem with Zilwaukee. 2008, a $ 3.3 million project was further hindered when crews determined more.! We'vemorethan 13.000 how to avoid zilwaukee bridge but we want more $ 1 billion to replace it legislators in.. Segment by segment, working from one end of the Zilwaukee bridge the! Spent $ 120 million to build the bridge 's opening in 1987 new issue, it... November 1983 article, the concrete segments must be delivered the concrete segments must be delivered concrete. The roads or just discover them by browsing the site is used a! Spokesman William L. 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