and one set outside were specially tailored to cast the 1,592 segments On August 28, 1982, temporary compression blocks began to crush while a concrete segment was being transported, causing a 300-foot-long section of the bridge deck to sag five feet on one end, and rise three-and-a-half feet on the other end. The history of the Zilwaukee Bridge is one of adaptation over time, as the little town of Zilwaukee started to grow. The main strength of the bridge comes from its 4,000 miles of steel tension cables hidden away in the concrete. 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. 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 Roger N. Kahn has urged the Michigan Department of Transportation to enact new, clear procedures to avoid the use of outdated blueprints that could lead to construction mishaps across the state. A 1,700-ton launching girder atop the bridge is equipped with a crane that takes the segment and puts it into place. Originally, the bridge seemed like a big improvement, but it ran into problems rather quickly. It was opened in 1988 and is 8,000 feet (2440 m) long and 125 feet (38 m) at its highest point. However, the size of interstate traffic was simply not appropriate for a small citynor did many drivers want to slow down on their way north to rural areas or south to Detroit. 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. The bridge carries the I-75 / US 23 road. Next: Section 4: The Accident The expectation was that adding this additional crossing would give vehicles more options and more direct routes, breaking up the traffic along the growing interstate. Cables in the bridge run through galvanized steel ducts that have been Read about the Zilwaukee Bridge collapse in 1982 and its reconstruction. The current bridge replaced a smaller, bascule bridge (drawbridge) that was built in 1960. The four-lane, bascule bridge (or drawbridge) opened in 1960. Originally, the Zilwaukee Bridge was to be completed by November 1983. 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. However, due to the accident and its subsequent repair work, construction Bridge Construction Engineering. habitat. repairs as well as a discussion of the safety of the bridge, which was The first contract totaled $75 million. During the six-month shutdown, traffic was rerouted via I-675 through downtown Saginaw and massive back-ups were common. For example, consider drawbridges. Annotated Aerial Image, I-75 and Zilwaukee Bridge Improvements: Construction and Motorist Information, Photography of concrete was installed on the bridge and the northbound lanes of the I-75/US-23 freeway portion of the new route in the Saginaw area was opened to traffic. Almost exactly nine months later, the southbound side of the All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. added to one end of the completed group, and then a balancing segment is It makes for an imposing sight, and the Zilwaukee Riverfront Park sits nearby. Lin International (TYLI) to perform construction engineering services. It was time to start assembling the concrete segments of the bridge surface. The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level bridge carrying I-75 (and U.S. 23) over the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee. The project is expected to last through January 2015. 23 Location Zilwaukee, Saginaw County, Michigan Status Open to traffic History Built 1987 Design Concrete stringer Dimensions (1.5 mi.) In an August 22, 1989 article, The The incident in August 1982 was caused by a large amount of mispositioned weight during the installation of a segment between two piers, according to MDOT. Repairs totaled $6.8 million. Many have been While that may not sound like a lot, it's a big deal when talking about tons and tons of concrete and steel. After more than four years, MDOT announced a $70-million project to replace 154 of the bridge's bearings as well as rebuild four miles of the I-75/US-23 freeway between the I-675 junctions, replace the Janes Ave overpass, and repair and widen the Wadsworth Rd and CSX Railroad underpasses to the south of the bridge. plant at the bridge site. The segments are joined in 1953. In 2008, a $3.3 million construction project to replace bridge bearings hit a snag. 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 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. It has 1592 concrete segments that weigh about 160 tons. 23/U.S. Though some have speculated that the bridge was glued together, theyre not entirely far off. an outmoded, inadequate drawbridge that caused backups on the freeway every each cable is about the size of a man's wrist. When we open 1-Major and show a hand with a long suit, the opponents often find a way to get in the way. The segments are erected by a massive piece of machinery called a launching This only after It was thought that this would accommodate both boat and vehicle traffic. on the bridge did not resume until late 1984 under a new contract with Learn about the Zilwaukee Bridge on the Saginaw River, its history, and its height. Crank up the tunes. act as a continuous bridge. Why did it happen? Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. subjected every day to far heavier weights than it will ever experience Zilwaukee Bridge - Old. Neither do we. Create your account. 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. The southbound side opened the next summer. Segments are transported from the fabricating plant to the bridge by a I am requesting a rigorous examination of the lane traffic and am seeking alternative plans that might help keep two-way traffic open during the construction process.. Sometimes the bridge would open without much warning, causing cars to crash while trying to slow down. This drawbridge was meant to ease congestion, but made it worse as both vehicle and shipping traffic drastically increased. The Michigan Department of Transportation says it will close two lanes of traffic on the I-75 Zilwaukee Bridge tomorrow and Thursday. Really makes me wonder - if that was a seriously considered plan, what happened? concrete, forming another layer of protection for the steel cables. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. 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. 120 and 160 tons. After the termination of the original contract, the state found a new contractor to continue work. We had to wait in line. [Image: The bridge takes shape. designed machines made for that particular project. The hauler, based in Zilwaukee, transports auto parts and agriculture products. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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 situation with old plans has been around for years, he said. If not replaced, the normal shifting movements of the bridge would cause additional damage, thus reducing its lifespan. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. 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. This process is repeated until the entire span is closed. At Zilwaukee, Bridge "bearings" are pads under the bridge deck that transfer loads to the piers while allowing for some movement. highway running from Detroit to the Mackinac Bridge. This high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River is said to be the perfect example on how not to build a bridge. 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. 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. After the cleanup and investigations and hiring of new contractors, work didn't resume until late 1984. Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. The origin of today's Zilwaukee Bridge can be traced back to the original 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. About 15 years after it opened, plans to replace it with a high-level bridge would start gaining steam, according to Michigan Highways. The worst back-ups, of course, occurred during After eight years of construction, the northbound lanes of the Zilwaukee Bridge were opened Dec. 23, 1987. 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. 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. It is also exceptionally tall to allow shipping to pass beneath the bridge. 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. Thanks to the new bridge, it is easy to get over the Saginaw. 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. $77 million (not counting approaches and ramp work). The Zilwaukee Bridge is a high-level, segmental concrete bridge spanning the Saginaw River in the U.S. state of Michigan. Many of the original stainless steel and teflon bearings have been replaced with a plastic material. During a bearing replacement project, a contractor inadvertently cut through reinforced steel on the bridge, the agency has reported. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). BAY CITY, Mich. (WNEM) - The Bay Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced it is permanently changing its routes to avoid tolls on Liberty Bridge and . My concern at this time is to make certain this type of construction accident does not occur again, Kahn wrote in a Wednesday letter to MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle. An epoxy stronger than concrete was used between segments. Each segment is manufactured with 10,000 pounds of reinforcing steel inside. Because it would be virtually impossible feet in length to the huge I-205 Freeway Bridge, spanning the Columbia in the completed 1.5-mile-long bridge. Yes, the Zilwaukee Bridge of 1960 was a drawbridge. Were talking about, of course, the Zilwaukee Bridge. at the intersecting roads. removed so that river traffic would not be impeded. The segments were cast of specially designed concrete which is one-third Chris has a master's degree in history and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado. Five sets of casting forms inside the building the crossing would cause more problems then it solved. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. It is the cables that hold all the segments in compression. The concrete bid was $76.8 million. The However, the most significant reason was the overloading of the expansion joint. Precast segments, such as those at the Zilwaukee Bridge, are fabricated In 1979, construction on the elevated Zilwaukee Bridge, which accommodates both boat and vehicle traffic, began. Sometimes, the back-ups exceeded 30 miles and several hours in length. Chynoweth noted the new bearings would double the Zilwaukee Bridge's lifespan to a now-predicted 100 years, or through 2087. In order to provide you with the best online experience this website uses cookies. The Zilwaukee Bridge was conceived as a way around I-75's drawbridge, called a bascule bridge, over the Saginaw River. Well, hold on -- not exactly. to the bridge and held in place while the epoxy is applied and the cables added. There have been some issues with ongoing maintenance projects through the years. To use information contained on this site is to do so at your own risk. As noted above, when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major [3] The Zilwaukee Bridge is approximately 8,000 feet (2,400m) in length and rises 125 feet (38m) at its highest point.[1][2]. 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. of high-strength reinforced concrete segments held together by thousands no alterationsgrammatical or otherwisehave been made. The original It took a decade to complete and was so plagued with problems it came very close to not opening at all. A Saginaw News article from 1967 details another freighters crash into the bridge, causing traffic to be re-routed for a few days. To ease the commute along this route, a bridge was constructed over the Saginaw River. I feel like its a lifeline. The original bridge routed traffic through the small city of Saginaw. Or are you better off taking a different route? Create an account to start this course today. Idahosa noted that aside helping to reduce to the barest minimum the number of deaths at that portion of the highway, construction of a pedestrian bridge there would also help reduce the number of . The accident delayed construction for over 2 years.Pic: http://media.mlive.com/saginawnews_impact/photo/zilwaukee-bridge-bbec235072ccfec4.jpg. Department of Transportation, Zilwaukee Bridge: Work began on the southbound span first during 2013 and then transitioned over to the northbound bridge during 2014. 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. Aerial map of Zilwaukee Bridges by Chris Bessert/Michigan Highways. Unfortunately, something happened that would change that plan. The project is expected to last through January 2015. On example of a common but not simple auction is when the opponents compete vs. our 1NT Semi-Forcing bid. ** FILE **Traffic is stop and go over the Zilwaukee Bridge Sunday afternoon in this July 6, 2003 photo, as the Fourth of July motorists head home. 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. 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. According to a story of an epoxy resin makes the repaired area stronger than the concrete was MichiganDOT 6.12K subscribers June 3, 2014 -- This video is the latest in a series of In the Field video reports aimed at sharing innovations, research and new technology. part of the I-75/US-10/US-23 freeway. The southbound lanes opened in the fall of 1988, at which point the old bascule bridge was officially closed. The bridge design called for expansion joints that would enable the bridge to expand and contract as the temperature rose and fell. MDOT Bay City Transportation Service Center Manager Gregg Brunner said At Zilwaukee, each cable is about the size of a man's wrist. The setback took two years and $6 million more unbudgeted dollars. Do you know anyspectacular road?Click here to send us all the info, and we'll publish it! The bridge has twin decks built of a series News never stops. What we learned from the Z-Bridge makes sense to apply, especially on those bridges, he said. Traffic shifted between I-75/US-23 and I-675 twice weekly to ensure three lanes were open in the direction of peak travel. In November 1978, bids were taken for either a steel or concrete bridge, according to MDOT records. At its peak, the bridge is 125 feet above water level. Why is the Zilwaukee Bridge so tall? Others just marvel at its vast span and view of the Saginaw River. completion. MDOT's policy requires concrete cracks be repaired if they are larger than Much more on the truck. The mile-and-a-half long bridge replaces 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. Sunshine Skyway Bridge at Tampa, Fla., opened in 1987. That same year, S.J. The resulting fiasco was the worst in Michigan's transit history. The grout cures to become Clearly, a new solution was needed. cannot effectively be injected or sealed. from leaking into the bridge itself. The river serves as the boundary between Zilwaukee Township and the city of Zilwaukee at this point, which is approximately 5 miles (8.0km) north of downtown Saginaw. 1,700 tons. These joints have to be kept perfectly immobile during construction, so they are filled with temporary blocks held in place with steel tendons. and reconstructing the newly-completed I-675 loop The bridge wasnt even open for traffic yet at this point. 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. Detroit Free Press noted "Containing and removing the toxic During bridge maintenance, I-675 is used as a detour route for traffic. The two new segments then are stressed to the He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters. 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. 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. Great Lakes freighter traffic would force it to open about three times a day. Needless to say, the draw bridge wasnt exactly working. All rights reserved. In 1979, construction started on a new, elevated bridge that ships could simply pass underneath. Construction of the bridge would resume. Work started in 1979 and was supposed to finish in 1983. To make sure the its integrity would not be compromised, crews installed steel reinforcement on the bridge's exterior. The mighty Mackinac Bridge is Michigans signature bridge, with its own rich history. the bridge was completed and the back-ups on the freeway reached three The segmental bridge is built from individual concrete pieces, or segments, The Saginaw News article also details an instance where Michigan State Police raised the bridge to stop a fleeing criminal on I-75. onto the bridge, unhooks from the front end of the trailer, hooks to the Construction began in 1979 with an expected completion date three years later, but the bridge was not available for traffic for nine years. In April 2008, work crews replacing bridge bearings unexpectedly drilled into several reinforcing steel bars in the bridge. The current eight-lane structure, completed in 1988, is the second such bridge at this location, replacing a four-lane bascule bridge constructed in 1960. Only one side of the bridge is open at a time, and traffic is shifted on Tuesday and Saturday, based on peak times. in the early-1980s which added many millions to the cost and years to the The website is for information purposes only and we assume no liability for decisions made as a result of the information provided here. During construction, the expansion joints were held in place by compression blocks that prevented them from moving until the box-girder deck was completed. Many Michigan seniors, like Tom Fleisher of West Bloomfield, remember the signs warning people. For five years, it has routinely stored blueprints electronically, he Back to: Section 2: Background The Zilwaukee Bridge is a box-and-girder concrete segmental bridge that crosses the Saginaw River in Michigan. 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