The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority
Construction of a span to replace the Highway 63 Red Wing bridge over the Mississippi River is expected to begin next year. Transportation officials are seeking contractor input on the complex project between Red Wing, Minn., and Hager City, Wis. (Dolan Media Newswires photo by Bill Klotz)
By Brian Johnson
Dolan Media Newswires
Minnesota Department of Transportation officials plan to huddle with bridge and grading contractors this summer to get their advice on the roughly $100 million replacement of the Highway 63 Red Wing Bridge.
Contractor input is important because the project site presents multiple challenges including the presence of a Canadian Pacific rail corridor, environmental considerations and active industrial facilities.
The project, scheduled to start in May 2017, will replace a 55-year-old fracture-critical bridge with a new two-lane crossing over the Mississippi River between Red Wing, Minn., and Hager City, Wis.
Scheduled for completion in 2020, the new crossing will be constructed just upstream from the existing two-lane, 1,631-foot-long steel truss bridge.
The future Highway 63 Red Wing bridge over the Mississippi River shows a two-lane structure with bicycle and pedestrian features and overlooks. (Rendering courtesy of MnDOT)
Terry Ward, a MnDOT District 6 project manager, said similar one-on-one meetings have been done on other complex projects such as the $187.5 million Interstate 90 Dresbach bridge and the $172 million Winona bridge in Minnesota.
The goal is to ensure that MnDOT gets contractor feedback before it finalizes plans and specifications. Ward said the feedback “may or may not lead to some changes in our plans and specifications.”
“I view it as a risk-assessment process, where we are identifying what we think are larger risk items and trying to mitigate the risk,” Ward said.
Though major bridgework is still more than a year away, the public might see its first signs of construction this fall.
Ward said tree removal is likely to occur in November or December. The timing is important to minimize the impact on endangered northern long-eared bats in the area.
MnDOT will open contractor bids for the project on Feb. 24, 2017. But tree-removal services for the Minnesota side of the river will likely be awarded this fall in a separate contract, he said.
The cost range for the overall project is $93 million to $103 million.
The bridge is eligible for Chapter 152 funding, which was approved by the Minnesota Legislature after the Aug. 1, 2007, collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
During construction of the Red Wing bridge, two lanes of traffic will be maintained over the river, according to the city of Red Wing’s project website.
Jay Owens, Red Wing’s city engineer, said the city has worked closely with MnDOT on the bridge plans.
One of the city’s big concerns is to keep traffic moving as much as possible during construction. About a third of the city’s workforce comes across the bridge from the Wisconsin side, Owens said.
The nearest alternative crossing is 30 miles away. On average, 12,000 to 13,000 vehicles per day cross the bridge.
MnDOT project manager Chad Hanson previously told The Daily Reporter sister paper, Finance & Commerce, that MnDOT considered rehabbing the existing bridge instead of replacing it, but the upfront costs would have been about the same and the replacement option is a longer-term fix.
The new bridge will have a 100-year design life; a rehab would have given the bridge another 20 to 30 years, Hanson said.
