Crowds gawk as new Hastings bridge is maneuvered into place

A state transportation official compared it to parallel parking a 6.5 million pound piece of equipment. Barges floated the main span of a new Hastings bridge down the Mississippi River and maneuvered it into place over the weekend. The span had been assembled upstream. It now sits alongside the existing bridge. There's more work to be done before it opens to traffic next spring.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Sep 23, 2012

Bridges are usually stationary and people move across them. But this weekend in Hastings people sat on the Mississippi River banks and watched a bridge float by.

The new bridge was assembled upstream. Building it there and floating it into place minimizes the time that the existing bridge is out of commission. The old bridge will reopen to traffic on Tuesday. It will stay in use until the new one is ready next spring.

The Hastings Star Gazette has been live streaming the move.

The state Transportation Department has a wealth of details about the $120 million project at its website.

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The process of moving the bridge span for the new Hastings bridge over the Mississippi River has begun. The 545-foot span will be lifted into place next Wednesday. Residents gathered along the Mississippi Friday to watch the historic event.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has recommended building a new two-lane Highway 43 bridge across the Mississippi River, adjacent and just upstream from the existing span, the Winona Daily News reports.

The current river crossing got a lot of attention after faulty gusset plates were found in the wake of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. MnDOT is making plans to renovate the historic structure, but Mayor Jerry Miller says the that's not good enough. The Rochester Post-Bulletin reports Miller wants a new two-lane bridge built next to the existing bridge.

The Spiral Bridge first opened to horse-and-buggy traffic in Hastings in 1895. It is the only one of its kind ever built. Crews demolished the bridge in 1951 by simply knocking it into the Mississippi River.

The Interstate 35W bridge fell into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145, five years ago on Wednesday. A new structure now stands in its place, but the road to recovery is still not complete for everyone. Survivors of the rush-hour disaster tell the Star Tribune they have struggled to rebound physically and emotionally.

The Maryland Avenue Bridge over Interstate 35E just north of downtown St. Paul is coming down beginning July 13. The street will be closed until early or mid-September, when it reopens with a new bridge in place. Workers are building the new bridge at a nearby site, and in what might signal the future of bridge construction, a giant robotic conveyor belt will roll the span into place during a 12-hour window over two weekends in August.