Work on the St. Croix River Crossing Project is under way, as crews begin work on the load-testing project.

The load testing procedure is vital to the St Croix Crossing project as it provides critical information about soil conditions under the river, according to MnDOT. This determines the bridge foundation’s design.

The contractor for the final design of the estimated $626.4 million project will be announced next week, said Todd Clarkowski, Area Engineer
MnDOT Metro District. 

The process to document riverbed stability includes driving two 24-inch piles and two 42-inch piles into the river bottom. Crews will place the piles with a crane, then hammer the piles until they are locked into rock or dense soils.

MnDOT says residents may hear noise from the pile hammer from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The entire process for the initial pile driving will take about one month, with the majority of the project noise in the first four days. The entire load testing project will be complete by mid-August.

Crews have moved the 240-feet long by 170-feet wide barge onto the St. Croix River where the bridge will be built.

MnDOT says the impact to boaters during this project will be minimal.

The load testing procedure is vital to the St Croix Crossing project as it provides critical information about soil conditions under the river. This determines the bridge foundation’s design.

MnDOT and the Bolander and Sons will test the water daily both upstream and downstream of the barges to protect water quality during this process.

Construction of the bridge will begin in 2014 and take about three years to complete.