“Anyone who has been involved with this project, this is by far the biggest plan set, or stack of papers, any of us have been involved with,” Pete Marthaler said.
A major projects construction manager for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in Duluth, Marthaler led a virtual update Monday that revealed a series of developments, some already visible to motorists.
Most notably, the 27th Avenue Bridge was demolished over a single weekend, Nov. 15-17.
The joint venture between Ames Construction, of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Kraemer Construction, of Duluth, is currently driving 100-foot pilings into better soils and bedrock at the location of the old bridge. Girders and form work will begin as soon as April 2021 for the new 27th Avenue West bridge over Interstate 35.
“We’re driving pile at an angle, because it improves bearing capacity and holding,” Marthaler said. “Don’t be concerned if you see those (piles) leaning — it’s definitely intentional.”
The new bridge figures to be built and open by the end of spring 2021. As soon as contractors are confident the winter cold has cleared, the concrete deck will be poured.
“Opening the bridge is very weather dependent,” Marthaler said.
Framed by two steel columns a hydraulic excavator moves dirt where the 27th Avenue West overpass stood in Duluth. The overpass is being replaced. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)
The bridge work is happening in a small footprint. Workers can be seen a few yards away from interstate traffic, separated only by concrete barriers. Material needs are diligently planned, because there’s little room to stockpile supplies.
“There’s a lot of sequencing and planning in and out ahead of time,” said Matt Huber, of the Ames-Kraemer joint venture.
The new bridge will have only a center pier in the median between either side of the freeway. The design creates better visibility for interstate drivers to see traffic using ramps to merge onto I-35.
For now, there are single-lane closures on I-35 only at certain times — for material deliveries and the swing of the cranes at the 27th Avenue West exit. All lanes at the bridge site are open during peak driving times.
“It’s an active work zone,” said Pat Huston, major projects and assistant district engineer for MnDOT. “Most of us aren’t used to construction in the winter. Please be vigilant and undistracted as you come through the work zone.”
There have been no injuries reported on the project to date.
As far as other work going on right now, a lot of it is tucked away — railroad tracks on the BNSF railyard property are being moved to accommodate work; rock crushing is ongoing at sites of new bridge foundations; and there is temporary pile driving of sheet piling ongoing near the planned new outlet of Miller and Coffee creeks into St. Louis Bay, north of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District.
A hydraulic excavator operator drops dirt into a dump truck along Interstate 35 at 27th Avenue West in Duluth. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)
The creeks originate in the Duluth Heights neighborhood and are being rerouted into a new box culvert that replaces an aging system in place since 1967. The new outlet will feature three times the capacity and reduce the chance of stormwater runoff flooding in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Work on the creeks will require single-lane traffic on I-35 throughout next summer. During that time, Lower Michigan Street will be bolstered to become an I-35 bypass, allowing two-lane, two-way traffic on I-35 from fall 2021 to fall 2022.
“It will be used for one winter and one full construction season,” Marthaler said of the Lower Michigan Street bypass.
While traffic is bypassed onto Lower Michigan Street, contractors will be able to build north and south lanes of I-35 while carrying two-lane, two-way traffic the whole time.
Work on the Twin Port Interchange reconstruction project is expected to last until 2024, with major construction completed in 2023.
The project was designed to improve safety and freight movement and replace aging, weight-restricted bridge infrastructure. All exits are moving to the right, and construction will eliminate blind merges.
The next monthly update will be 12:15 p.m. Jan. 4.
"work" - Google News
December 08, 2020 at 09:00AM
https://ift.tt/36STxQZ
'Definitely intentional' — work on Twin Ports Interchange commences - Duluth News Tribune
"work" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUEaYA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "'Definitely intentional' — work on Twin Ports Interchange commences - Duluth News Tribune"
Post a Comment