Location

• Hwy 61 Mississippi River crossing in Hastings

 

Schedule

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

Traffic impacts - Feb. 6, 2013

Vehicle traffic

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

River, pedestrian and bicycle traffic

• All river navigation channels remain open
• No pedestrian traffic allowed on existing bridge; pedestrians and cyclists traveling south of the bridge on the city trail through downtown Hastings will be detoured. Read more about the detour.

 

 

Project updates

Main Span

This structure includes the 545-foot long, free-standing tied arches.

• Crews are working on the concrete knuckles that will cover the structures that are keeping the span in place and will provide continuity to the tie girders.
• Crews are also working on the forms for the permanent tie girder. A tie girder is the long, straight beam that "ties" the ends of the arch together.

• Watch the time lapse video of the Main Span as it was moved from land to barge, floated down the river and lifted into place.

 

North Approach

This structure includes five-spans north of the Main Span and is a pre-tensioned, pre-cast concrete girder bridge.

• Crews continue work on the deck and the utilities that will run under the deck.
  
  

South Approach

This structure is made up of two side-by-side bridges that cover five spans south of the Main Span into Downtown Hastings. It consists of post-tensioned, solid, cast-in-place concrete slabs.

• Piers are complete and the deck has been poured for the southbound lanes.
• Three piers for the northbound lanes are complete. A majority of work on the northbound lanes will begin after the existing bridge is closed and crews can fully access the area.

 

CP Railroad Bridge

The Hwy 61 bridge over CP Railroad is being replaced as part of the Hastings Bridge Project. New concrete median barrier will also be installed on Hwy 61 from MRI to the new River Bridge, closing the left turn lanes into MRI, King’s Cove, Hub’s Marina and Captains Bay.

• Pile driving and footings are complete

• Crews continue to set beams for spans 1, 2 and 3

• Crews continue to work on slope grading and paving