I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge

44.978888888889 - 93.245Koordinaten: 44 ° 58 ' 44 "N, 93 ° 14' 42 " W

F1

10 lanes of I-35W

Mississippi River

The St. Anthony Falls ( 35W ) Bridge is the new crossing of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota as part of the Interstate Highway 35W. By the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn / DOT, the Minnesota Department of Transportation ) commissioned construction became necessary after the existing bridge structure had collapsed at the same place on 1 August 2007.

In the design of the building was attended by the Mayor of Minneapolis RT Rybak and Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty in public hearings, numerous residents of the city's influence. Nevertheless, the design and construction was carried out much faster than comparable structures common. One reason for this is the importance of crossing the river at this point for the traffic in the city and the north -south traffic Minnesota. The new building was opened September 18, 2008, 414 days after the bridge collapse, more than three months ahead of the original target date.

Collapse of the former river crossing

On 1 August 2007 broke at 18:05 local time clock at this point the existing bridge of Interstate Highway 35 over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in together. The roads fell into the river and its banks. In the accident 13 people were killed and 145 people were injured.

The building was erected in 1967 and originally designed for a capacity of 66,000 vehicles per day. The useful life was estimated to be at least 50 years. Over the bridge led initially two lanes in each direction. 1988 were converted in response to the increase in traffic, side panels left and right of the two carriageways in lanes, so that a total of eight lanes crossed the river. 2004 drove an average of about 141,000 vehicles daily over the bridge.

Financing

Within hours of the collapse of the existing bridge, politicians had come out in favor of building a replacement building in the shortest possible time. Due to the federal government of the United States emergency aid was provided to eliminate the debris and recover the victims. The MP for the 8th Congressional District of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Oberstar, who heads the House Transportation Committee, introduced a bill to provide at least 250 million U.S. dollars for a new building available; The draft was adopted unanimously on August 3.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Senator Amy Klobuchar of the Democratic - Farmer-Labor (DFL ) brought a bill successfully through the Senate. President George W. Bush signed the bill on August 6, 2007 due to wrangling in Congress, it took until 26 December 2007 before President Bush could sign the budget bill supplementing with which was placed the issue.

Discussion of the design

RT Rybak (DFL ), the mayor of Minneapolis, had early out that in the rush that was necessary to close the gap in the traffic network of the city and the state, future requirements and considerations not in terms of transport policy are likely to be neglected. He demanded that the new building had to serve both the growing traffic and public transport. In negotiations between Mayor Rybak, Minnesota's Secretary of Transportation Carol Molnau and Governor Pawlenty finally, the requirements have been developed to a new construction project. These provided for a ten-lane bridge, which will be ready for the subsequent installation of a bus lane or rail and their useful life should be estimated at least 100 years. At a public hearing voiced hundreds of citizens of the twin cities of Minneapolis -Saint Paul the wish that in planning the needs of public transport should be considered. Transport Minister Molnau and the chairman of the Metropolitan Council, Peter Bell insisted initially that a light rail should not be the subject of planning for the new building. However, the Governor directed the Minnesota Department of Transportation ( Mn / DOT) to consider when planning a light rail line. The additional costs of up to 35 million U.S. dollars will bear the state of Minnesota. A route of the rail line " Central Corridor" over the new bridge save up to 200 million U.S. dollars building costs, as in the previous planning of the line a new tunnel had to be built and a bridge extensive reconstruction work had to undergo.

Finally, it was decided that the new building across the river about eight feet by two separated bridge structures with five lanes should be designed with the option of later to be implemented rail line or from separate bus lanes on the structure. In planning the overall width was provided with approximately 60 meters - about 25 feet longer than the collapsed bridge.

Announcement

After the collapse of the old bridge Mn / DOT had invited construction companies to register their interest in the tender until 8 August 2007. Usually, projects of this magnitude require in Minnesota a realization of three years, due to the importance hoped the ministry to a realization within 15 months. On August 9, it was announced that five companies had declared their intention and that until September 18, 2007, the deals would have to be present.

On 19 September 2007 the contract to Flatiron Constructors and Manson Construction Company has been awarded; as senior engineers Figg Engineering were selected. The light emitted by Flatiron Constructors bid was the highest with the price and the longest construction time. The expected budget for the construction of which was estimated at 300 to 350 million U.S. dollars. Included in the budget were premiums for rapid construction; the contract was finally awarded to 234 million U.S. dollars. The agreement provided for a penalty of U.S. $ 200,000 for each day of delay in completion after the due date December 24, 2008. In case of early completion of the construction companies could receive bonuses of up to 27 million U.S. dollars.

Among the projects that have already been realized by the selected construction companies before the Escambia Bay Bridge include in Pensacola (Florida), the John James Audubon Bridge between St. Francisville and New Roads in Louisiana, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston (South Carolina), and part work of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California. Figg Engineering were the senior structural engineer in the construction of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg ( Florida).

Construction phase

Mn / DOT maintained a website that documented all activities associated with the new bridge and weekly reports on the progress of construction, pictures of the various stages of construction, animation and other materials made ​​available. On 17 December 2007, the first concrete was poured carrier far from the building site, approximately 60 m long, 4.1 m wide and 137 cm thick. The beachheads were established about 30 m deep.

At the construction site was working around the clock; during the day were up to 400 workers working on site, during the night about half.

April 8, 2008 announced Mn / DOT that the half- time of construction was achieved and predicted that completion could take place up to three months before the scheduled date. On 5 July 2008, the last bridge segments of the road leading north were laid. The hope for an early completion proved to be true when the Minnesota Department of Transportation in the morning could open it to traffic, the bridge September 18, 2008 at 5:00 clock.

Modern technology

The bridge is equipped with spraying equipment for de-icing and was built with prestressed concrete. Sensors monitor the bridge structure 323, including the movement of the bridge deck, the voltage and the temperature. These data are collected and analyzed by the University of Minnesota. On the bridge -the-art spotlights to LED technology for illumination.