Location

• Hwy 61 Mississippi River crossing in Hastings

Schedule

• Begin: October 2010
• Two lanes of traffic switched to new bridge in 2013
• All four lanes open to traffic tentatively by the end of 2013, with construction completed spring, 2014
  
  

Construction Cost

• $120 million
  
  

Traffic Impact

• The Hastings Bridge will remain open during construction of the new bridge

Contacts

• Hastings Bridge Project Office
  Hotline: 651-775-5244
  E-mail
  624 Spiral Boulevard
  Hastings, MN 55033

Traveler information (May 10, 2012)

• The west downtown access ramp remains closed to through traffic. The detour is just one block west at Eddy Street.
• Use the Zipper Merge if traffic is slow as you approach the work zone.
• Two lanes of Hwy 61 traffic will remain open during rush hours throughout the project.
• All downtown businesses will remain accessible throughout the project.
  
  River, pedestrian and bicycle travel

• All river navigation channels remain open.
• Pedestrians and cyclists traveling south of the bridge on the city trail through downtown Hastings will be detoured along Second Street between Ramsey Street and Lock and Dam Road.
• No pedestrian traffic is allowed on the existing bridge.
  
  

Project updates (May 10, 2012)

Hwy 61 map

River Pier Work

• At piers 5 and 6, crews are working on the “knuckles” that will hold the new bridge’s steel arches in place and tie them into the new bridge’s substructure. The new bridge will have four knuckles, one knuckle at each end of the steel arches. Each knuckle is a massive 36-feet long by 24-feet tall by 12-feet wide.
• Piers 7, 8, 9 and 10 are complete.
  
  

Roadway

• All girders are in place between the North Abutment and the Main Span area. Crews continue building forms and reinforcements in the area. The longest of these girders is 174 feet, and each are 8 feet tall. 
• See video of 165-ton concrete girder delivered on 16 axles worth of big rig.
• Get the full story on the massive girders – read “Take it to the Limit.”
  
  

Main Span

• Preliminary work for Main Span construction has begun in the staging area near the Flint Hills Nature Preserve off of Lock and Dam Road (near Lock and Dam #2). Check out the new Main Span web cam here.
• Four 60-foot tall pile have been driven into the ground to create a visual frame for the new Main Span assembly.  The pile are about 25 feet above the ground and are 104 feet apart at each end. There are 650 feet between the two ends. The 545-foot arch span will be built between (but not supported by) these pile.
• Crews have started placing the Main Span floor beams and stringers – or longitudinal beams for supporting the road deck -- between the four survey piles.

North Bank

• Abutment is completed.
  
  

South Bank

• Piers 1-4 (southbound), Pier 5 and southbound roadway forms and falsework (temporary support structures) are in place.
• Crews continue to build forms and reinforcements.