As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major Several ideas were proposed, including tunneling under the river, but eventually they decided on a box-and-girder, concrete segmental bridge that would simply be elevated high enough for ships to pass underneath. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). While the Zilwaukee Bridge is a bit shorter than the Mackinac Bridge, it is much wider. In 1979, construction started on a new, elevated bridge that ships could simply pass underneath. The building and opening of the Zilwaukee Bridge: Yet, five years later than expected, on Dec. 23, 1987, the first vehicles crossed the northbound side. fixed to the opposite end. 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. dangerousroads.org is not responsible for the information contained in these pages. However, construction ground to a halt in 1982 when a significant accident paralyzed work. Cracks smaller than .004 inches 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. Segmental bridges are in two general categories: precase and cast-in-place. When we were kids this thing was massive and scarrrrrryyyyy!! The bridge is built to carry more than double the heaviest traffic load expected during the worst traffic jams. Its a stretch many who live in Metro Detroit are familiar with as a passage for a trip to Northern Michigan, perhaps for Memorial Day or Labor Day. While there was a bridge in 1953, the area gained importance as a thoroughfare with the completion of the interstate highway system during the 1950s. filled with cement grout under high pressure. The . 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. as the construction proceeds. Ken Haddad is the digital content and audience manager for WDIV / ClickOnDetroit.com. An MDOT report found the 2008 issues were due to faulty documentation from the original construction, according to Michigan Highways. Four years later, MDOT announced a $70 million project to replace 154 of the bridges bearings, as well as to rebuild four miles of the freeway. The river serves as the boundary between Zilwaukee Township and the city of Zilwaukee at this point, which is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Saginaw. and constructed is a post-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridge and work on this website in its entirety for informational purposes and can be repairs as well as a discussion of the safety of the bridge, which was Work started in 1979 and was supposed to finish in 1983. A truck hauled the segments up one by one on a double-side trailer that allowed the truck to circle around after dropping the load and hitch back up on the other side. Create an account to start this course today. two-lane highway bypass on the east side of the City of Saginaw completed Periodically flooded roads around the world. When two adjacent A pier footing cracked, presumably due to resulting stress. 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. it joins. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. The effect caused one side of the 300-foot-long section of bridge deck to sag and the other to rise. of an epoxy resin makes the repaired area stronger than the concrete was He enjoys suffering through Lions games on Sundays in the fall. That same year, S.J. There were discussions about abandoning the project completely. That structure was supposed to be completed in 1983, but the collapse of a temporary compression block on an expansion joint in 1982 literally derailed the project. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. It stands on its own steel legs And it wasnt just the cars that suffered. The Zilwaukee Bridge has a mile-long box underneath the entire span so maintenance workers can keep an eye on how its holding up. It was opened in 1988 and is 8,000 feet (2440 m) long and 125 feet (38 m) at its highest point. Along with asking for new procedures so that mistakes are not made due to outdated blueprints, the letter asked the agency to notify the senators office when the procedures are finalized.. two spans of the bridge simultaneously. has progressed down the bridge, all the ducts in the completed span are (You can read a lot more about the construction issue here). Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. on the job weigh 160 tons, so the loaded unit can weigh up to 262 tons, The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. By the end of the next year, the original 1953 US-23 bypass Sometimes the bridge would open without much warning, causing cars to crash while trying to slow down. which are hollow and usually rectangular in shape. cannot effectively be injected or sealed. The 1982 accident completely stopped construction. The first contract totaled $75 million. following pages reproduce a 1987 report issued by the Michigan deck of the old drawbridge now rests on the bottom of Lake Huron as a fish The setback took two years and $6 million more unbudgeted dollars. long flatbed truck and trailer. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Each is formed by 12 strands of steel cable, and each strand is formed by seven wires about one-eighth inch in diameter. I say we go back to these days and watch the boats go by: 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids If youd like to read more in depth about the history of the Zilwaukee Bridge, check out this A-to-Z guide from Michigan Highways. 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. Originally, the Zilwaukee Bridge was to be completed by November 1983. Much more on the Back to: Section 2: Background It assures thatthe [4] On October 21, 2008 the bridge opened up to north and southbound traffic once again. In fact, in 1979, the traffic jam was a whopping 56 miles long. The largest segments The current bridge is not the first Zilwaukee River crossing. And they did this to try and trick new settlers, like immigrants, into thinking it was actually Milwaukee. consisted of the new four-lane, double-leaf bascule (draw) bridge and a had also been converted to full freeway with overpasses and interchanges The bridge is named after the small city in Saginaw County, Zilwaukee, obviously. Department of Transportation issued a report detailing the background Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. girder. Instead, a chemical compound called calcium magnesium acetate is used as an alternative. 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. The southbound side of the bridge would open to traffic the following fall in 1988, according to Michigan Highways. I-675 was built, in part, to help traffic bypass the original drawbridge while the current high-level Zilwaukee Bridge was being proposed and constructed, in addition to providing better access into and through downtown Saginaw. primary purpose of the epoxy is to act as an environmental seal of the In a recent e-mail to staffers, Kahn said he was concerned that this is a potential recurring construction mistake, recurring unnecessary costs and delays, and potentially dangerous at projects statewide. beginning at the existing route (Dixie Hwy) in Bridgeport, continuing northerly The concrete bid was $76.8 million. Boat traffic was also backed up on the river, as shipping traffic quadrupled in the years after the bridge opened. Bridge "bearings" are pads under the bridge deck that transfer loads to the piers while allowing for some movement. The present structure was designed to relieve traffic congestion along the freeway crossing it, resulting from repeated openings of the draw span for lake freighter traffic serving industrial sites along the river. The current bridge replaced a smaller, bascule bridge (drawbridge) that was built in 1960. 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The repair work added $500,000 to the $3.8 million project and postponed the bearing replacement project to 2012. back end and drives directly off. In order to provide you with the best online experience this website uses cookies. in the early-1980s which added many millions to the cost and years to the of concrete was installed on the bridge and the northbound lanes of the I-75/US-23 freeway This would have been a big enough problem with only the increased vehicle traffic, but Michigan's growing economy also meant that shipping traffic was rapidly increasing. Now, the bridge is very busy. Bridge Construction Engineering. built in western Europe and have been found to be generally more economical There has been a Saginaw bridge for nearly 70 years. feet in length to the huge I-205 Freeway Bridge, spanning the Columbia Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning, The each cable is about the size of a man's wrist. All rights reserved (About Us). Each one was closely inspected by a specially 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. of high-strength reinforced concrete segments held together by thousands 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. The total launching girder apparatus weighs The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 13. auto transporter trucks weighing 40 tons each. Traffic: Estimated 21,600,000 vehicles per year. We lifted and tilted and jacked it into place. In 1979, construction on the elevated Zilwaukee Bridge, which accommodates both boat and vehicle traffic, began. 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. MDOT Bay City Transportation Service Center Manager Gregg Brunner said Traffic is being rerouted along as follows: Here's a map of the detours and the other I-75 construction projects nearby: MDOT says work on the bridge includes "replacing bearings, bridge deck overlay and barrier repairs, and electrical work.". in an MDOT-produced publication from the early-1990s: The This high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River is said to be the perfect example on how not to build a bridge. However, due to the accident and its subsequent repair work, construction The total cost of the bridge project was around $127 million, with the federal funds paying for 90 percent of it, according to MDOT records. added to one end of the completed group, and then a balancing segment is removed so that river traffic would not be impeded. (AP Photo/Michael Hollenbeck/The Saginaw News. Now, an average of 21.6 million vehicles cross the bridge per year. Today, the Zilwaukee Bridge is the major artery connecting the north of Michigan to Detroit. Zilwaukee Bridge is ahigh level bridge carrying I-75 [and US-23] over 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. While a decommissioning of the Zilwaukee bridge is a long way off, the bridge's lifespan is probably in the ballpark of 80 to 100 years, said Gregg Brunner, associate region engineer with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Traffic heading north each weekend, and south when the weekend is over, will still be able to traverse three lanes on the bridge. The tilting also damaged the pier footing beneath it. The bridge also features a massive tie-down block that spans 57 x 46 x 5-1/2 feet and weighs about 1,100 tons. 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 bridge carries the I-75 / US 23 road. Traffic is being rerouted along as follows: Wednesdays - Saturdays A midnight crew scrambled to safety as an overloaded thousand-foot-long bridge section shook, buckled and sagged. 23 Location Zilwaukee, Saginaw County, Michigan Status Open to traffic History Built 1987 Design Concrete stringer Dimensions (1.5 mi.) 1987a nice Christmas present, four years after the bridge was to be A Saginaw News article reported in 1954 that some German immigrants who would come through New York City would sign agreements to work in Zilwaukee, thinking they were heading to Milwaukee. This high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River is said to be the perfect example on how not to build a bridge. By 1982, the 52 piers that would support the bridge were finished, and expansion joints were being added. It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. T-shirts and other items emblazoned with an image of a broken Zilwaukee Bridge and the word "Oops were available at local gas stations, according to residents. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters. Lin International (TYLI) to perform construction engineering services. 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. 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.. On August 28, the temporary compression blocks started to crush, and a 300-foot-long bridge section sagged five feet on one end and three-and-a-half feet at the other. The town's founders called it Zilwaukee to confuse it with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in hopes of luring settlers there to work. to the bridge and held in place while the epoxy is applied and the cables Detroit Free Press noted "Containing and removing the toxic directly on the bridge superstructure. Then again, there's not much about THIS bridge that I had known prior to when I first visited this website last year. In 1960, the new route opened -- and the Zilwaukee Bridge was born. Some believe this Michigan bridge marks the start of Up North. Traffic shifted between I-75/US-23 and I-675 twice weekly to ensure three lanes were open in the direction of peak travel. It may not have been the easiest transition, but growing pains are often parts of getting bigger. The northbound lanes of Interstate 75 across the bridge, closed since Feb. 18, 2008, to replace bearings that allow it to expand and contract in changing weather, were due to reopen by the end of March. The bridge wasnt even open for traffic yet at this point. By 1975, the state of Michigan was already planning out a replacement bridge to cross the Saginaw River. Next: Section 4: The Accident The Zilwaukee Bridge was conceived as a way around I-75's drawbridge, called a bascule bridge, over the Saginaw River. [Image: The bridge takes shape. During bridge maintenance, I-675 is used as a detour route for traffic. .004 inches (about the thickness of a human hair). bascule bridge was permanently closed on that datebut only to automobile When the balanced group of four segments is in place, a segment is again the bridge opened, it also caused problems for traffic on the Saginaw River The original in 1953. concrete segment onto the bridge, is the equivalent of 49 fully-loaded The segments at Zilwaukee were constructed at a specially designed casting Bridge Report Aerial Imagery Additional In this installment, MDOT. It was actually a four-lane draw bridge and a freeway beginning at the northern end of the. Another important step is taken to protect steel cables from corrosion. This drawbridge was meant to ease congestion, but made it worse as both vehicle and shipping traffic drastically increased. called tendons, to form a solid unit. This story is a bit of legend, but its mostly accepted by local historians. As an aid in joining each precast piece to its mate, high-strength epoxy Unfortunately, shipping increased fourfold in the early 1960s; and each time the drawbridge opened, cars would back up for miles. plant at the bridge site. A 69 News crew is at the scene of this developing story. being completed at either end of the new bridge, it was discovered one 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. the decision came to replace it with a high-level bridge. 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