Alert
Wisconsin
Department of Transportation
Northeast
Regional Office, 944 Vanderperren Way, Green Bay, WI 54304 Phone: 920/492-5623
FAX: 920/492-5640 www.wisconsindot.gov
Release
date: December 29, 2016
For
more information, contact:
Mark
Kantola, Regional Communications Manager
Mark.Kantola@dot.wi.gov, (920)
492-4153
Long-term
closure of Michigan Street Bridge in Door County begins Jan. 3
WisDOT to
repair beams damaged in vehicle strike
(Sturgeon
Bay) The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Northeast Region
office announces the Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, will close
to vehicle and pedestrian traffic at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 3 and reopen Friday,
January 20. The daily closures are necessary to repair nine bridge beams
damaged in a vehicle strike. The bridge will continue to open for marine
traffic while repairs take place. Detour signs will direct motorists,
bicyclists and pedestrians to use the Maple/Oregon Street Bridge to cross the
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. The Bayview Bridge is another alternate route to
consider during the repair work.
A
semi-truck towing a backhoe struck multiple overhead support beams on Friday,
April 22. Maintenance crews
closed the bridge to all traffic, inspected the damage, and reopened the bridge
the following day.
WisDOT
Bureau of Structures engineers, Northeast Region bridge engineers and Door
County Highway Department staff will be conducting the repairs on the bridge’s
east span. The repairs will cost approximately $200,000. The driver of the semi
towing the backhoe which struck the bridge is responsible for all repair costs.
Repairs
consist of cutting the damaged beams out and bolting new beams in place. Due to
the age of the beams, WisDOT used 3-dimensional imaging technology (LiDAR) to
create specifications for prefabrication of new beams to exactly replicate the
damaged beams. An off-site facility prefabricated the replacement parts and
transported them to Sturgeon Bay for repair when the shipping season ended.
Repairing the bridge in winter lessens the impact for marine and motor vehicle
traffic. Engineers plan to heat-straighten, in place, one of the nine beams.
All of the repair work is weather dependent.
For
daily construction information or changes to construction schedules for this
project and all WisDOT Northeast Region construction project, please follow the
Northeast Region Twitter account at https://twitter.com/WisDOTnortheast.
