A Saginaw News article from 1967 details another freighters crash into the bridge, causing traffic to be re-routed for a few days. The southbound lanes opened in the fall of 1988, at which point the old bascule bridge was officially closed. You are still completely responsible for your decisions, your actions, and your safety. It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. Less than fifteen years after the original bascule bridge was opened, 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 history of the Zilwaukee Bridge is one of adaptation over time, as the little town of Zilwaukee started to grow. Todays Zilwaukee Bridge can be traced back to the 1950s, and the original two-lane highway bypass on the east side of Saginaw, which according to Michigan Highways was completed in 1953. So a new footing was built over the old footing and that is anchored down into bedrock, Chynoweth said. Deck width: 74.0 ft. Also called I-75 Saginaw River Bridge Approximate latitude, longitude +43.48232, -83.91243 (decimal degrees) The freighter was fine but the bridge suffered substantial damage. concerns and painting costs with steel bridges. Located in Zilwaukee, in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan, the Zilwaukee Bridge is one of the most spectacular bridges in the world. 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. and reconstructing the newly-completed I-675 loop Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. The bridge wasnt even open for traffic yet at this point. 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. He enjoys suffering through Lions games on Sundays in the fall. The bridge carries the I-75 / US 23 road. The bridge operator continued to staff the bridge until it was which are hollow and usually rectangular in shape. However, due to the accident and its subsequent repair work, construction Still looking for information "and Bay City officials want to buy it, dismantle it and move it 7 1/2 miles north to replace bridge in city that collapsed in the 1950s. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level bridge carrying I-75 (and U.S. 23) over the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee. Of each cable is about the size of a man's wrist. The bridge has twin decks built of a series 21.6M vehicles cross each year. These joints have to be kept perfectly immobile during construction, so they are filled with temporary blocks held in place with steel tendons. beginning at the existing route (Dixie Hwy) in Bridgeport, continuing northerly completion. There will be about 27,000 miles of eighth-inch wire It was opened in 1988 and is 8,000 feet (2440 m) long and 125 feet (38 m) at its highest point. On some cold days these new sections could not be properly sealed against water infiltration, eventually leading to spalling as the water froze and expanded. Department of Transportation. of the new bridge as segments are erected one against another and are post-tensioned subjected every day to far heavier weights than it will ever experience But in the 1980s, the Zilwaukee Bridge controversially turned into Michigans most expensive. [5] During 2014, special custom-made jacks were put into place as a stop-gap measure while bearings were replaced.[6]. $77 million (not counting approaches and ramp work). While that may not sound like a lot, it's a big deal when talking about tons and tons of concrete and steel. The situation with old plans has been around for years, he said. 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. The Zilwaukee Bridge has a mile-long box underneath the entire span so maintenance workers can keep an eye on how its holding up. The computer-aided design drawings for projects built since the mid-1990s. SAGINAW, Mich. - Friday marks 35 years since the Michigan Department of Transportation opened the Zilwaukee Bridge. It was only 150 feet wide and several ships ended up clipping the bridge, causing damage and even more traffic issues. to turn the 70-foot trailer around on the 73-foot wide bridges, the trailer the bridge, causing damage and additional tie-ups on the freeway as well. accident, what caused it and what was done to remedy the situation can A midnight crew scrambled to safety as an overloaded thousand-foot-long bridge section shook, buckled and sagged. found at the following link. It didnt really work, and Zilwaukee did not turn into Milwaukee. added to one end of the completed group, and then a balancing segment is group to create a solid unit, six segments long. One end of the 300-foot span supported by that pillar sagged five feet, while the other end was lifted 3 feet into the air. MDOT has concluded no one was at fault and blamed three-decade-old as built drawings that didnt show where the steel was located as the problem. The town's founders called it Zilwaukee to confuse it with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in hopes of luring settlers there to work. with post-tensioned steel cables to form the deck, or superstructure, of When two adjacent The final bridge would not be completed until 1987-88, but finally, the people of Zilwaukee had a bridge that could handle their growth. 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. It is also exceptionally tall to allow shipping to pass beneath the bridge. The first two of those still serve this route across the current Zilwaukee Bridge today, but U.S. 10 was scaled back to end west of Bay City at around the same time that this bridge was replaced with that one. During construction, the expansion joints were held in place by compression blocks that prevented them from moving until the box-girder deck was completed. This important artery allows traffic to move through the area without. The compound gets rid of the ice without any worry of corrosion to the bridge. Officials confirmed Tulpehocken Forge Road is closed and they're asking people to avoid the area. 120 and 160 tons. 1987a nice Christmas present, four years after the bridge was to be The report found that undocumented field changes occurred during construction.". mate on the structure, a process called "match-casting." on the bridge did not resume until late 1984 under a new contract with Aerial map of Zilwaukee Bridges by Chris Bessert/Michigan Highways. Bridge Report Aerial Imagery Additional As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major Why did it happen? Almost exactly nine months later, the southbound side of the bridge was opened. River at the border of Washington and Oregon, opened in 1982, and the new before being installed. The mighty Mackinac Bridge is Michigans signature bridge, with its own rich history. (You can read a lot more about the construction issue here). The tractor and trailer combined weigh 102 tons. 23 chapters | After eight years of construction, the northbound lanes of the Zilwaukee Bridge were opened Dec. 23, 1987. to traffic, the bad news did not stop even after motorists had been using At Zilwaukee, Originally, the bridge seemed like a big improvement, but it ran into problems rather quickly. Boat traffic was also backed up on the river, as shipping traffic quadrupled in the years after the bridge opened. During bridge maintenance, I-675 is used as a detour route for traffic. My concern is (if) there are other examples out there of marked drawings that are incomplete. it was issued prior to the completion of the bridge and is worded accordingly. It The project is expected to last through January 2015. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. Zilwaukee Bridge crash leaves 49-year-old woman seriously injured SAGINAW COUNTY, MI - Police expect a 49-year-old Ortonville woman to survive serious injuries she sustained after being hit by. By 1975, the state of Michigan was already planning out a replacement bridge to cross the Saginaw River. As more and more ships traversed the Saginaw River, the bridge had to be opened more frequently, stopping vehicle traffic. more than six times as much as a fully-loaded standard 18-wheel, 40-ton Sometimes the bridge would open without much warning, causing cars to crash while trying to slow down. in 1953. About 15 years after it opened, plans to replace it with a high-level bridge would start gaining steam, according to Michigan Highways. completely cured, the expoxy is stronger than the concrete segments which 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. Construction on the new Zilwaukee Bridge began in 1979. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. These features expand or contract with the temperature, giving the bridge the ability to adjust to both the warm Michigan summers and extreme colds of winter without sacrificing structural stability. The draw bridge was opening and we would hope it wasnt opening when we were there, Fleisher said. Were talking about, of course, the Zilwaukee Bridge. of steel cable, and each strand is formed by seven wires about one-eighth directly on the bridge superstructure. The project ran from April 2013 through 2015. The immediate response to the accident was to halt construction and investigate the extent of the damage. The solution was ingenious: pipes filled with refrigerant were inserted into the bedrock and then frozen to create a firm foundation for the bridge. 23/U.S. consisted of the new four-lane, double-leaf bascule (draw) bridge and a construction accident halted all work in August 1982. cannot effectively be injected or sealed. Authorities chose the lower-cost option. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. The segments are erected by a massive piece of machinery called a launching needed to complete the bridge. The largest segments Work started in 1979 and was supposed to finish in 1983. With regard to the bridge itself, 154 bearings installed during the bridge's construction in the 1980s were replaced with new ones made of "a high-density plastic material" according to MDOT's Engineer of Bridge Field Services Matthew J. Chynoweth. In fact, in 1979, the traffic jam was a whopping 56 miles long. He was 49 years old. Work began on the southbound span first during 2013 and then transitioned over to the northbound bridge during 2014. truck. Traffic heading north each weekend, and south when the weekend is over, will still be able to traverse three lanes on the bridge. In May of 1987, the Michigan During the six-month shutdown, traffic was rerouted via I-675 through downtown Saginaw and massive back-ups were common. The segments at Zilwaukee were constructed at a specially designed casting A 69 News crew is at the scene of this developing story. It was actually a four-lane draw bridge and a freeway beginning at the northern end of the 1953 bypass (at present-day M-13), crossing the bridge and continuing north into Bay City. The grout cures to become primary purpose of the epoxy is to act as an environmental seal of the Around the time of opening, the Zilwaukee Bridge saw roughly 11.3 million vehicles cross per year, according to MDOT. The $3.3 million project was further hindered when crews determined that more than 30 new bearings were not designed properly. Zilwaukee Mayor Gene Jolin said he hopes the state will keep two-way traffic on the bridge when it starts a two-year deck replacement and bearing project in 2012. The bridge in question that "collapsed in the 1950s" has to be the Cass Avenue bridge, though re-using this bridge is something I've never heard about before. This story is a bit of legend, but its mostly accepted by local historians. Then again, there's not much about THIS bridge that I had known prior to when I first visited this website last year. in the first place. How to Survive and Journey through the Nanisivik Highway, The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road was closed permanently on April 2017, Dalton Highway is the loneliest road on Earth, Slettnes lighthouse: the road to the end of Europe, How to Stay Safe on Dangerous Roads: Preparing Your Car for Bad Weather Driving. Create your account. 23/U.S. Heres an aerial map that shows the location of the draw bridge vs. the new bridge: Construction on the new structure, projected to cost about $77 million without ramps and approaches, started in late 1979. of Jason Hill: Zilwaukee Gallery, Michigan in Pictures: The Zilwaukee Bridge, Zilwaukee But the state has about half a dozen spans, such as the Blue Water, Zug Island and Mackinac bridges, where it could apply lessons learned from the Zilwaukee Bridge mishap, he said. When the block was crushed, a 300-foot-long section of bridge deck sagged 5 feet on one end and rose 3-and-a-half feet on the other, according to MDOT records. problems concerned the massive traffic tie-ups on the freeway each time When the bridge opened for river traffic, it sometimes caused miles-long traffic jams, especially during heavy travel days around the holidays and the start of firearms deer hunting season. They weigh between Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Engineers said even after 35 years, its holding up well. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters. The new contractor developed a method of heating the concrete to allow construction during the winter. Many of the original stainless steel and teflon bearings have been replaced with a plastic material. 1,700 tons. In 1979, construction on the elevated Zilwaukee Bridge, which accommodates both boat and vehicle traffic, began. of the unfinished ramps crossed a buried landfill contaminated with PCBs. He has a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague, Czech Republic. We have some major businesses here in town that must have that expressway open.. And thanks to Chris Bessert for compiling all of this great historical information. The Saginaw News article also details an instance where Michigan State Police raised the bridge to stop a fleeing criminal on I-75. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). The original Zilwaukee Bridge ended up causing more traffic than it eased, due to the fact that commuters in both directions had to stop whenever the drawbridge opened. The origin of today's Zilwaukee Bridge can be traced back to the original Construction crews began work on a major renovation project on the Zilwaukee Bridge this week. There were discussions about abandoning the project completely. Originally anticipated to last a few weeks, the project instead stretched more than six months when construction workers from Midwest Bridge Company of Williamston drilled into one of the bridge's steel tensioning rods. On Saturday, the bridge has three southbound lanes, while northbound traffic. "These hand-written plans, drafted around 1980, were used to build the original bridge. The newly developed concept of interstate highways changed the way that people moved around and brought more commuters through the region on their way from Detroit to the Upper and Lower Peninsula-connecting Mackinac Bridge. segments is then pulled together with high-strength steel cables, also Unfortunately, something happened that would change that plan. A report released by MDOT in December 2010 noted the problems with the 2008 project were due to faulty documentation from the bridge's original construction. Repairs totaled $6.8 million. There will be about 27,000 miles of eighth-inch wire in the completed 1.5-mile-long bridge. But the $3.3 million project hit some road blocks in March, forcing motorists to steer around the bridge for at least another two months. After an extensive investigation, five separate factors were identified, but the main issue was that too much construction weight was placed on the joint while the deck was being built. "From the 'as built' plans for the bridge, the only steel that was expected to be encountered were smaller steel bars," said Bay Region Engineer Robert Ranck. Department of Transportation in response to public concerns about The concrete segments were built nearby, at a facility constructed for the project. construction in the United States and Canada. a new contractor. To make sure the its integrity would not be compromised, crews installed steel reinforcement on the bridge's exterior. Without the Zilwaukee Bridge, it would be much more difficult for drivers to pass through the region. I say we go back to these days and watch the boats go by: 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids Segmental bridges are in two general categories: precase and cast-in-place. Traffic began using the Zilwaukee Bridge again on October 1, 2008. of the ramp, now scheduled to open this year. When the balanced group of four segments is in place, a segment is again [Image: The bridge takes shape. However, it is most often known as the source of a giant headache because of a costly and high-profile construction accident that halted work entirely for two years. 10. There are some things that were really exciting for us as kids, but which are pretty annoying as adults. And they did this to try and trick new settlers, like immigrants, into thinking it was actually Milwaukee. They look like this: According to Michigan Highways, MDOT engineer Matthew Chynoweth says the bearings for the Zilwaukee Bridge are getting worn out. http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. Not be compromised, crews installed steel reinforcement on the bridge operator continued to staff bridge... 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