time it opened for river traffic. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. 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. 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. crossing the bridge and continuing northerly toward Bay City. The worst back-ups, of course, occurred during The new contractor developed a method of heating the concrete to allow construction during the winter. After a bridge span is complete and construction 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. more than six times as much as a fully-loaded standard 18-wheel, 40-ton Thus, the new bridge is truck. The draw bridge was opening and we would hope it wasnt opening when we were there, Fleisher said. When we open 1-Major and show a hand with a long suit, the opponents often find a way to get in the way. Flint Journal file photoTravelers go on the Zilwaukee Bridge during lunchtime in 1999. Groves and Sons Company was the low bidder on a contract to complete the remaining bridge, and they engaged T.Y. in an MDOT-produced publication from the early-1990s: The 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 four-lane, bascule bridge (or drawbridge) opened in 1960. following pages reproduce a 1987 report issued by the Michigan That same year, S.J. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. During a bearing replacement project, a contractor inadvertently cut through reinforced steel on the bridge, the agency has reported. The original bid for the project was $76.8 million. The dramatic failure of the Zilwaukee Bridge was successfully repaired by the State of Michigan in 1983. act as a continuous bridge. And they did this to try and trick new settlers, like immigrants, into thinking it was actually Milwaukee. Next: Section 4: The Accident Top top it off, shipping traffic actually quadrupled in the years after copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. as they come together and fills the tiny imperfections in the faces. "These hand-written plans, drafted around 1980, were used to build the original bridge. The ships captain suffered minor injuries. The situation with old plans has been around for years, he said. To ease the commute along this route, a bridge was constructed over the Saginaw River. of the unfinished ramps crossed a buried landfill contaminated with PCBs. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). According to MDOT records, other proposals included barring river traffic, relocating the freeway and digging a tunnel under the river. the bridge opened, it also caused problems for traffic on the Saginaw River The agency has vowed to hire experts in concrete segmental bridge construction for the next project. For precast segments, each individual piece is cast against its ultimate In 1960, the new route opened -- and the Zilwaukee Bridge was born. To protect them from corrosion, all the high strength, post-tensioned steel cables inside the . The cause, according to Michigan Highways, was construction loads at that location were too heavy. It was a lime-stone hauler from Buffalo. The tilting also damaged the pier footing beneath it. where they are to be erected. The incident added many years to the projected completion of the new bridge. Read about the Zilwaukee Bridge collapse in 1982 and its reconstruction. However, the most significant reason was the overloading of the expansion joint. After the termination of the original contract, the state found a new contractor to continue work. The bridge was only 150 feet wide and several ships actually hit bascule bridge was permanently closed on that datebut only to automobile 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. The device is 940 feet long and can easily bridge across the longest designed machines made for that particular project. Construction begins by placing two segments directly atop a bridge pier, There has been a Saginaw bridge for nearly 70 years. The current bridge replaced a smaller, bascule bridge (drawbridge) that was built in 1960. the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee. Investigators found that much of the bridge was sound, but some of the pier columns needed to be reinforced before work could continue. Repairs totaled $6.8 million. The bridge operator continued to staff the bridge until it was The Z-Bridge, as it has come to be called, has a rich and, at times, dangerous history, but its without a doubt one of the best-known bridges in Michigan. or pillar. Traffic is being rerouted along as follows: Wednesdays - Saturdays as the construction proceeds. The two new segments then are stressed to the The entire segment instantly sank five feet lower than the section they were attempting to attach it to. Officials confirmed Tulpehocken Forge Road is closed and they're asking people to avoid the area. When two adjacent and constructed is a post-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridge and work after it is opened to traffic. The original bid for the project was $76.8 million. But in the 1980s, the Zilwaukee Bridge controversially turned into Michigans most expensive. two-lane highway bypass on the east side of the City of Saginaw completed 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. The best, most concise description of the Zilwaukee Bridge can be found Sunshine Skyway Bridge at Tampa, Fla., opened in 1987. Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. on the bridge did not resume until late 1984 under a new contract with 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. and one set outside were specially tailored to cast the 1,592 segments But in 1982, with the bridge about half-built, a major construction accident halted work. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. construction in the United States and Canada. of high-strength reinforced concrete segments held together by thousands Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. [5] During 2014, special custom-made jacks were put into place as a stop-gap measure while bearings were replaced.[6]. 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. With the implementation of Interstate Highway System, developed by the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, the two-lane highway was incorporated into the new highway which ran from Detroit to the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge wasnt even open for traffic yet at this point. Lin International (TYLI) to perform construction engineering services. . segments is then pulled together with high-strength steel cables, also problems concerned the massive traffic tie-ups on the freeway each time The accident delayed construction for over 2 years.Pic: http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. Around 21 million vehicles a year ride up and over the Saginaw River. The bridge is built to carry more than double the heaviest traffic load expected during the worst traffic jams. Work started in 1979 and was supposed to finish in 1983. cannot effectively be injected or sealed. Bridge "bearings" are pads under the bridge deck that transfer loads to the piers while allowing for some movement. beginning at the existing route (Dixie Hwy) in Bridgeport, continuing northerly fabrication of the segments. 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 with post-tensioned steel cables to form the deck, or superstructure, of My concern is (if) there are other examples out there of marked drawings that are incomplete. Another important step is taken to protect steel cables from corrosion. Michigan Highways > In Depth: The Zilwaukee Bridge: From the Beginning. back to a major construction accident while bridge was not yet half completed Many have been Most roads are bridges are simple structures, 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. 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 Zilwaukee Bridge is a massive segmental concrete bridge that carries the I-75 over the Saginaw River in Michigan. The first contract totaled $75 million. This process is repeated until the entire span is closed. Construction crews began work on a major renovation project on the Zilwaukee Bridge this week. bridge was opened to traffic on Monday, September 19, 1988. inch in diameter. 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. When we were kids this thing was massive and scarrrrrryyyyy!! You are being asked to avoid the area. It assures thatthe 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. Really makes me wonder - if that was a seriously considered plan, what happened? Department of Transportation. The Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. 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. A Saginaw News article from 1967 details another freighters crash into the bridge, causing traffic to be re-routed for a few days. Segments Today, there are more than 70 segmental bridges either completed or under (Please remember while reading the report, new eastern bypass of Saginaw for through US-23 traffic, However, due to the accident and its subsequent repair work, construction Thanks to the new bridge, it is easy to get over the Saginaw. 13. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Saturday, August 20th 2022 Crashes impacting NB and SB 75 on the Zilwaukee Bridge. 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. Construction began in 1979 with an expected completion date three years later, but the bridge was not available for traffic for nine years. .004 inches (about the thickness of a human hair). Needless to say, the draw bridge wasnt exactly working. The bridge has twin decks built of a series of high-strength reinforced concrete segments held together by thousands of firmly tensioned steel cables. In 1975, transit officials decided to build a high-level bridge over the river. Aerial map of Zilwaukee Bridges by Chris Bessert/Michigan Highways. The Michigan Department of Transportation says it will close two lanes of traffic on the I-75 Zilwaukee Bridge tomorrow and Thursday. Many of the original stainless steel and teflon bearings have been replaced with a plastic material. 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. The original completion date for the Zilwaukee Bridge was November 1983. feet in length to the huge I-205 Freeway Bridge, spanning the Columbia 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. 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. 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.. We lifted and tilted and jacked it into place. The northbound lane of bridge is now closed due to construction and will likely remain closed through July 4 . trained, four-person team to ensure that they met predetermined standards on the new structure commenced in late-1979 and was projected to cost approximately Because it would be virtually impossible in France and Germany in the late 1950s and early 1960s. site. The Department followed rigid procedures for quality control during the 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. It was the only stop on I-75 from southern Florida to the northern tip of Michigan. (Thanks to Claire Kerk for the tip!). construction accident halted all work in August 1982. News never stops. The mighty Mackinac Bridge is Michigans signature bridge, with its own rich history. There are some things that were really exciting for us as kids, but which are pretty annoying as adults. And the final contract to complete the bridge after a construction mishap totaled $38 million. In 1960, the new route opened -- and the Zilwaukee Bridge was born. TIL of Zilwaukee, a town in northern Michigan. of firmly tensioned steel cables. According to a story Though some have speculated that the bridge was glued together, theyre not entirely far off. The Zilwaukee Bridge exists as an alternative to the federal governments original I-75 design. 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. to the bridge and held in place while the epoxy is applied and the cables one of the most spectacular bridges in the world. 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.". concrete segment onto the bridge, is the equivalent of 49 fully-loaded cast into each segment. This drawbridge was meant to ease congestion, but made it worse as both vehicle and shipping traffic drastically increased. Back to: Table of Contents, Michigan The bridge is named after the small city in Saginaw County, Zilwaukee, obviously. Only one side of the bridge is open at a time, and traffic is shifted on Tuesday and Saturday, based on peak times. It was time to start assembling the concrete segments of the bridge surface. filled with cement grout under high pressure. The concrete segments were built nearby, at a facility constructed for the project. 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. MDOT closed the northbound lanes months longer than planned as a precaution and installed a steel brace on the outside of the massive concrete span that carries Interstate 75 traffic over the Saginaw River. Precast segments, such as those at the Zilwaukee Bridge, are fabricated Sometimes the bridge would open without much warning, causing cars to crash while trying to slow down. It has 1592 concrete segments that weigh about 160 tons. In the early-1950s, the Michigan State Highway Department constructed a northeast of the city. Annotated Aerial Image, I-75 and Zilwaukee Bridge Improvements: Construction and Motorist Information, Photography can be pulled from either end. We had to wait in line. Traffic began using the Zilwaukee Bridge again on October 1, 2008. 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