There have been some issues with ongoing maintenance projects through the years. 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. the crossing would cause more problems then it solved. act as a continuous bridge. 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. Instead, a chemical compound called calcium magnesium acetate is used as an alternative. The last one was cast in late 1986. with many steel cables to form the decks.]. Cast-in-place bridge segments are cast in traveling forms placed But in August of 1982, after more than half the bridge had taken shape disaster struck. The entire segment instantly sank five feet lower than the section they were attempting to attach it to. no alterationsgrammatical or otherwisehave been made. Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning, The directly on the bridge superstructure. TIL of Zilwaukee, a town in northern Michigan. Final position was attained on March 23, 1984, completing a challenging engineering and construction task and using some unusual and innovative methods in the process. inch in diameter. The towns population, as of 2010, was about 1,600. bascule bridge was permanently closed on that datebut only to automobile The original bid for the project was $76.8 million. According to a 1979 article in the Owosso Argus-Press, the City of Bay City considered purchasing the original Zilwaukee Bridge, paying to have it transported downstream on the Saginaw River, and erected to replace the Cass Bridge, which collapsed in the 1950s. 10. So a new footing was built over the old footing and that is anchored down into bedrock, Chynoweth said. completely cured, the expoxy is stronger than the concrete segments which The tilting also damaged the pier footing beneath it. (AP Photo/Michael Hollenbeck/The Saginaw News. ZILWAUKEE State Sen. Roger N. Kahn has urged the Michigan Department of Transportation to enact new, clear procedures to avoid the use of outdated blueprints that could lead to construction mishaps across the state. BAY CITY, Mich. (WNEM) - The Bay Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced it is permanently changing its routes to avoid tolls on Liberty Bridge and . River at the border of Washington and Oregon, opened in 1982, and the new Department of Transportation issued a report detailing the background Though some have speculated that the bridge was glued together, theyre not entirely far off. Work started in 1979 and was supposed to finish in 1983. being completed at either end of the new bridge, it was discovered one The four-lane, bascule bridge (or drawbridge) opened in 1960. The new contractor developed a method of heating the concrete to allow construction during the winter. are 73.5 feet wide and either eight feet or 12 feet long. Annotated Aerial Image, I-75 and Zilwaukee Bridge Improvements: Construction and Motorist Information, Photography Posted July 9, 2019, by Melissa Brand-Welch, National Bridge Inventory 2021: (Nearby Bridges), Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States, http://bridgehunter.com/mi/saginaw/saginaw-river/, July 9, 2019: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch, November 13, 2018: New photo from Douglas Butler, October 6, 2018: New photos from Douglas Butler, August 6, 2014: New Street View added by Douglas Butler. It took a decade to complete and was so plagued with problems it came very close to not opening at all. Of 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint. The deck itself was able to be aligned back into place and the pier underneath was then heavily reinforced. He was 49 years old. Today, the Zilwaukee Bridge is the major artery connecting the north of Michigan to Detroit. The . The concrete bid was $76.8 million. Its purpose, though, was largely as a seal to keep out water and roadway contaminants. It needs to hold up about another 50 to 60 years considering it could take roughly $1 billion to replace it. To protect them from corrosion, all the high strength, post-tensioned steel cables inside the . other ideas had been batted around, including a tunnel under the river The Zilwaukee Bridge is a.high level bridge carrying I-75 [and US-23] over the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee. Repair work began in the early summer of 1983 and totaled around $6.8 million. Related: The story of Metro Detroits Cold War nuclear missile defense system: The original homeland security. polychorinated biphenyl will cost at least $100,000 and could delay completion In the 1980's, Toebe completed a number of large . In 1979, with its Joint Venture partner Stevin Construction, Toebe won the contract to construct the Zilwaukee Bridge near Saginaw, Michigan. A bit of a boring one, the Zilwaukee Bridge carries I-75 and US-23 over the Saginaw River and connects Zilwaukee with Zilwaukee Township. bridge was opened to traffic on Monday, September 19, 1988. 107. as the construction proceeds. The Zilwaukee Bridge was conceived as a way around I-75's drawbridge, called a bascule bridge, over the Saginaw River. Published: Jan. 16, 2023 at 8:39 AM PST. Each one was closely inspected by a specially an outmoded, inadequate drawbridge that caused backups on the freeway every While that may not sound like a lot, it's a big deal when talking about tons and tons of concrete and steel. Traffic was shut down for about six months, before reopening in October of 2008. concrete segment onto the bridge, is the equivalent of 49 fully-loaded can be pulled from either end. Thanks to the new bridge, it is easy to get over the Saginaw. [Image: The bridge takes shape. 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. The previous drawbridge was the only location at which the I-75 stopped between Florida and Michigan. stronger than that usually specified by MDOT for bridge decks. 13. Today, there are more than 70 segmental bridges either completed or under MDOT spokesman William L. Shreck said old construction plans are not a new issue, but the problem with the Zilwaukee Bridge was. Concrete stringer bridge over Saginaw River on Interstate 75/U.S. The bridge has twin decks built of a series Use our interactive map to explore the roads or just discover them by browsing the site. 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. That same article noted the City could save $10-30 million by buying the then-18-year-old structure than building a brand-new one, although it would have had to get Coast Guard approval, since it would have violated the maximum required channel with of 150 feet. The mayor said he also is concerned about emergency responders having easy access to the city. Back to: Table of Contents, Michigan If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Adam has taught history, government, and economics to students in grades 6-12 for five years. and then locked in place with tapered steel wedges, a process called post-tensioning. At its peak, the bridge is 125 feet above water level. The cost was approximately $6.8 million. As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning. The 1982 accident completely stopped construction. and reconstructing the newly-completed I-675 loop in the early-1980s which added many millions to the cost and years to the before being installed. on the new structure commenced in late-1979 and was projected to cost approximately Here are some facts, myths and statistics about the bridge, which turns 30 this weekend. 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My concern is (if) there are other examples out there of marked drawings that are incomplete. Periodically flooded roads around the world. The Zilwauke Bridge is so high because it must allow boats to past. be found in Section Check back here for updates. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. On Tuesday, September 22, 1987 the final 117-ton piece One thing worth noting: Upon the opening of this bridge to traffic, it served a triple concurrency of I-75/U.S. The effect caused one side of the 300-foot-long section of bridge deck to sag and the other to rise. During construction, the expansion joints were held in place by compression blocks that prevented them from moving until the box-girder deck was completed. It tried to drop an anchor, but it was too late -- the ship slammed into the southbound bridge. While no Saginaw River crossing seems to have been It makes for an imposing sight, and the Zilwaukee Riverfront Park sits nearby. Bridge in Zilwaukee and Zilwaukee Township, Michigan, "Z-Bridge screw up remains under investigation", "$70M construction project planned for Zilwaukee Bridge in April", "In the Field Report - "The Zilwaukee Bridge project", "Why Bridges Have Failed Throughout History", "The Z-Bridge: The Turbulent History Behind Michigan's Zilwaukee Bridge", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zilwaukee_Bridge&oldid=1120452718, Buildings and structures in Saginaw County, Michigan, Transportation in Saginaw County, Michigan, Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 7 November 2022, at 02:38. Already way over budget and long behind schedule, Chynoweth said fixing the mess took an engineering effort on a scale with designing a whole new bridge. The setback took two years and $6 million more unbudgeted dollars. girder. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. highway running from Detroit to the Mackinac Bridge. 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 ships captain suffered minor injuries. The southbound side opened the next summer. In 2008, a $3.3 million construction project to replace bridge bearings hit a snag. Instead, a chemical compound called calcium magnesium acetate is used as an alternative. The first contract totaled $75 million. Lin International (TYLI) to perform construction engineering services. During bridge maintenance, I-675 is used as a detour route for traffic. The town's founders called it Zilwaukee to confuse it with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in hopes of luring settlers there to work. 4: The Accident in The traffic. Support MLive.com. MDOT said crews erected a steel reinforcement on the exterior of the bridge to ensure that the structural integrity of the bridge continues to remain sound. The bid for the steel bridge totaled $86.2 million. Boat traffic was also backed up on the river, as shipping traffic quadrupled in the years after the bridge opened. [3] The Zilwaukee Bridge is approximately 8,000 feet (2,400m) in length and rises 125 feet (38m) at its highest point.[1][2]. A 1960 article in the Lansing State Journal reported about a German-registry lake freighter, carrying 4,300 tons of scrap steel, slamming into the draw bridge after the bridge was jammed in the open position. each cable is about the size of a man's wrist. since the bridges construction in the 1980s, the agency has used 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. Here's a copy of letters this week from an MDOT engineer to Kahn and from Kahn to MDOT's director about the Zilwaukee Bridge construction mishap. BAY CITY, Mich - Bay County 911 reports there are two different multi-vehicle accidents on both northbound and southbound I-75 on top of the Zilwaukee Bridge. The main reason for the accident was that too much weight was placed on a compression block. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River in the U.S. state of Michigan.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.. 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. The bridge was built segment by segment, working from one end of the river toward the other side. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. Bridge Construction Engineering. 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. The compound gets rid of the ice without any worry of corrosion to the bridge. Authorities chose the lower-cost option. $77 million (not counting approaches and ramp work). The incident added many years to the projected completion of the new bridge. Others just marvel at its vast span and view of the Saginaw River. They are held together with 20,000 miles of steel cable. of firmly tensioned steel cables. part of the I-75/US-10/US-23 freeway. Deck width: 74.0 ft. Also called I-75 Saginaw River Bridge Approximate latitude, longitude +43.48232, -83.91243 (decimal degrees) Workers then epoxy the segments together and run them through with steel tension wires. Cracks smaller than .004 inches two spans of the bridge simultaneously. Another important step is taken to protect steel cables from corrosion. Traffic: Estimated 21,600,000 vehicles per year. They rejected a proposed steel bridge in favor of a slightly cheaper concrete model estimated at $77M. The Zilwaukee Bridge along Interstate 75 over the Saginaw River. subjected every day to far heavier weights than it will ever experience Or are you better off taking a different route? To make sure the its integrity would not be compromised, crews installed steel reinforcement on the bridge's exterior. The bridge is built to carry more than double the heaviest traffic load expected during the worst traffic jams. That report has been reproduced The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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. en.wikipedia.org. (Please remember while reading the report, the safety of the Zilwaukee Bridge, then nearing completion. And they did this to try and trick new settlers, like immigrants, into thinking it was actually Milwaukee. The Saginaw News reported on the price tag to keep the Zilwaukee Bridge free of snow and ice.The don't use cheap salt which would result in corrosion of. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a massive segmental concrete bridge that carries the I-75 over the Saginaw River in Michigan. 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 segment of freeway utilizing the Zilwaukee Bridge is part of I-75 and US23. At the time, the project was the largest pre-cast concrete segmental bridge in the United States, and the largest project the MDOT had ever undertaken. time it opened for river traffic. posted to the USENET newsgroup alt.great-lakes the However, the bridge caused long traffic jams whenever it opened, so local officials commissioned an alternative. When we were kids this thing was massive and scarrrrrryyyyy!! 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. The original Zilwaukee Bridge as a four-lane draw bridge. Yes, the Zilwaukee Bridge of 1960 was a drawbridge. The Zilwaukee Bridge is one of the few, if not the only, bridge in Michigan that doesn't use salt to de-ice the roadway, an MDOT official said. Five sets of casting forms inside the building The Zilwaukee Bridge is a box-and-girder concrete segmental bridge that crosses the Saginaw River in Michigan. For example, consider drawbridges. For precast segments, each individual piece is cast against its ultimate During the six-month shutdown, traffic was rerouted via I-675 through downtown Saginaw and massive back-ups were common. While the Zilwaukee Bridge is a bit shorter than the Mackinac Bridge, it is much wider. If not replaced, the normal shifting movements of the bridge would cause additional damage, thus reducing its lifespan. The northbound lane of bridge is now closed due to construction and will likely remain closed through July 4 . http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. the bridge. The In the early-1950s, the Michigan State Highway Department constructed a 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. This high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River is said to be the perfect example on how not to build a bridge. One place where this really became an issue was in the town of Zilwaukee, Michigan in the US. new eastern bypass of Saginaw for through US-23 traffic, In 1978, the first shovels went into the ground to build high enough to allow high-speed traffic and freighters through at the same time. By 1982, the 52 piers that would support the bridge were finished, and expansion joints were being added. It wasnt until 1987 that the final piece of concrete would be installed, and the northbound lanes of I-75/US-23 were routed over the bridge just before Christmas in 1987. The segments are joined The final bridge would not be completed until 1987-88, but finally, the people of Zilwaukee had a bridge that could handle their growth. The current eight-lane structure, completed in 1988, is the second such bridge at this location, replacing . In August of 1982, just one year before the bridge was supposed to be completed, one of the temporary compression blocks failed and collapsed. Repairs totaled $6.8 million. consisted of the new four-lane, double-leaf bascule (draw) bridge and a and another is attached to the opposite side. Department of Transportation in response to public concerns about Traffic shifted between I-75/US-23 and I-675 twice weekly to ensure three lanes were open in the direction of peak travel. The situation with old plans has been around for years, he said. 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 State Journal story from Nov. 11, 1960. 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. This high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River is said to be the perfect example on how not to build a bridge. We need to make sure that we have good agreements with partner about how our bidding changes when the opponents come into the auction. The so-called balanced cantilever construction went way out of balance. construction accident halted all work in August 1982. The bridge was only 150 feet wide and several ships actually hit He has a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague, Czech Republic. site. [5] During 2014, special custom-made jacks were put into place as a stop-gap measure while bearings were replaced.[6]. to the bridge and held in place while the epoxy is applied and the cables 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. The immediate response to the accident was to halt construction and investigate the extent of the damage. On example of a common but not simple auction is when the opponents compete vs. our 1NT Semi-Forcing bid. A 69 News crew is at the scene of this developing story. concerns and painting costs with steel bridges. Bridge Report Aerial Imagery Additional Only one side of the bridge is open at a time, and traffic is shifted on Tuesday and Saturday, based on peak times. The 4-lane highway crossed the Saginaw River as a draw bridge. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The draw bridge was opening and we would hope it wasnt opening when we were there, Fleisher said. Unfortunately, something happened that would change that plan. 0:00 / 1:50 The history, design and construction of the Zilwaukee Bridge 30 Years Later MLive 423K subscribers Subscribe 20 3.5K views 5 years ago Saturday, Dec. 23 2017 will mark the 30th. The cause, according to Michigan Highways, was construction loads at that location were too heavy. Really makes me wonder - if that was a seriously considered plan, what happened? Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. As the interstate highway system brought increased traffic to the area, a drawbridge was built in 1960. Now that is amazing. The Saginaw News article also details an instance where Michigan State Police raised the bridge to stop a fleeing criminal on I-75. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. added. When the balanced group of four segments is in place, a segment is again following pages reproduce a 1987 report issued by the Michigan and can roll across these legs when necessary to move to a new position The Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). By the end of the next year, the original 1953 US-23 bypass Brunner said MDOT will meet with government officials and business owners to review traffic patterns before construction begins. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Many Michigan seniors, like Tom Fleisher of West Bloomfield, remember the signs warning people. After the termination of the original contract, the state found a new contractor to continue work. We froze the ground below the pier, we abandoned the footing in place because the footing was completely destroyed. 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 device is 940 feet long and can easily bridge across the longest 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. We had to wait in line. in France and Germany in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 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. SAGINAW, Mich. - Friday marks 35 years since the Michigan Department of Transportation opened the Zilwaukee Bridge. There has been a Saginaw bridge for nearly 70 years. In an August 22, 1989 article, The Without the Zilwaukee Bridge, it would be much more difficult for drivers to pass through the region. of an epoxy resin makes the repaired area stronger than the concrete was 23/U.S. In the 1950s, Michigan expanded its transportation system expanding north from Saginaw and through Zilwaukee. It caused serious damage. Cables in the bridge run through galvanized steel ducts that have been The Department followed rigid procedures for quality control during the in the first place. Back to: Section 2: Background Bridge "bearings" are pads under the bridge deck that transfer loads to the piers while allowing for some movement. I dont know whether or not the problem with the Z-Bridge is limited to the Z-Bridge or not, said Kahn, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a recent interview. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer. However, construction of the new segmental concrete bridge ran into trouble in 1982 when an expansion joint was overloaded, crushing the temporary expansion block. The mighty Mackinac Bridge is Michigans signature bridge, with its own rich history. 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.. This important artery allows traffic to move through the area without.
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