The Stillwater Bridge Story: Construction Gallery Part I

The St. Croix Crossing is one of the regions biggest investments in regional mobility in some time. Here are the best of the 1000 or so construction photos I have.

June 2012

The Ghost Neighborhood on the Minnesota Side. All the houses were removed for the bridge in the 1990s before the car-haters stopped the bridge for a while
The Ghost Neighborhood on the Minnesota Side. All the houses were removed for the bridge in the 1990s before the car-haters stopped the bridge for a while.
The Shoddy Mill, a set of historic buildings in the ghost neighborhood. The original contract to move these was cancelled when the bridge was stopped.
The first sign of actual work, a barge doing test drilling

June 2013

The Ghost Neighborhood is cleared out
The Ghost Neighborhood
Minnesota Highway 36. The New Bridge will go straight ahead
Where the bridge will touch down in Wisconsin
The approach road will go to the right of this farm
More work on the ghost neighborhood
The Soon to be demolished beach street overpass

August 2013

Starting to tear up MN 36
Starting to tear up MN 36
The old MN 36 overpass
The old MN 36 overpass. After the enviro-nuts stopped the bridge the first time money had to be spent patching up this overpass. It’s now about to be demolished.

September 2013

The new Beach Street Overpass going up
The new Beach Street Overpass going up
The new Beach Street Overpass
The new Beach Street Overpass
MN 36 and MN 95
MN 36 and MN 95

October 2013

MN 36 and MN 95, this will eventually be the off-ramp to MN 95, the bridge will on the left.
MN 36 and MN 95, this will eventually be the off-ramp to MN 95, the bridge will on the left.
Old Beach Street Overpass
Looking north on MN 95. The new bridge will cross between the traffic signals
Looking north on MN 95. The new bridge will cross between the traffic signals
Looking west- the new bridge will be directly overhead
Looking west- the new bridge will be directly overhead

March 2014

Clearing starting on the Wisconsin Side
Clearing starting on the Wisconsin Side
Another View
Bridge Piers
Bridge Piers
Looking West from the new Beach Street Overpass
Looking West from the new Beach Street Overpass
And Looking East from the overpass towards Wisconsin
And Looking East from the overpass towards Wisconsin
Farther back on MN 36 looking east.
Farther back on MN 36 looking east.
WI 35 closed for overpass work
WI 35 closed for overpass work

July 2014

Mess of signals at Osgood and MN 36
MN 95 Looking North
MN 95 Looking North
The on-site casting yard.

The longer section for the river spans were cast at an off-site yard at Grey Cloud Island. Shorter section were cast on-site at this yard where the mainline would be just west of MN 95. Poured in place sections were also used for where the approach span curved.

Bridge Abutment, Roughly opposite the view of above from Mn 95
Minnesota Approach Piers
Minnesota Approach Piers
Wisconsin 35 overpass is complete.
Wisconsin 35 overpass is complete.
Support pier going up.
The old bridge

August 2014: First Bridge Viewing Cruise

And yet another view of the piers
And yet another view of the piers
The barge coal unloading terminal, probably the ugliest structure ever. The dock was used as part of the project; at the conclusion the dock and machinery will all be removed.
The barge coal unloading terminal, probably the ugliest structure ever. The dock was used as part of the project; at the conclusion the dock and machinery will all be removed.
Rebar samples on display
Rebar samples on display
The old bridge from the boat

September 2014

At the on-site casting yard
At the on-site casting yard
Casting Yard
View from overlook

November 2014

Looking at new bridge from WI 35 overpass
The other direction in Wisconsin

The Stillwater Bridge Story: Photo Gallery Part II

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