The of the St. Croix Crossing Project has now entered its second week.
Crews from last week to perform load-tests, which will provide bridge designers with critical information on soil conditions under the river.
“This is a very important part of the project for us as we learn exactly what is under the water and what we need to do to build the extradosed bridge,” MnDOT spokesperson Mary McFarland Brooks said.
Load testing is expected to last throughout the summer.
Tomorrow is the last scheduled open house date to learn more about the project, as staff from both states will answer questions and share the project schedule.
The open house will take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m., at the Bayport Library.
MnDOT will also be hosting a meeting in Stillwater on June 21 to discuss the . That meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. at .
Click here to read other Patch coverage about the St. Croix River Crossing.
You can follow MnDOT communications about the project on the St. Croix Crossing website by clicking here, or “like the St. Croix Crossing Facebook page.
It's not an apples to apples comparison.
Your train of thought doesn't make sense. What's your basis for comparison?
IF the Stillwater bridge wasn't a MILE LONG the cost would be way less. According to Bechtel Corp (builders of many bridges) the cost of a bridge is determined by the number of square feet of bridge deck. The MILE LONG bridge over Lake Saint Croix is 3/5ths more expensive than a bridge over the narrows north of Stillwater. So a 5,000 foot long "extradosed" bridge over Lake Saint Croix is about $300,000,000 more than a 2,000 foot bridge over the Saint Croix RIver. Furthermore, do you remember all the dirt work needed for the reconstruction of highway 36 in North Saint Paul? Well even with all that dirt work that entire project cost about $29,000,000. Very sad this mile long "extradosed" bridge is needed, extradosed is new bleeding edge technology, over Lake Saint Croix when a 2,000 foot suspension bridge could be constructed for $300,000,000 less. The negatives associated with constructing a mile long bridge over Lake Saint Croix keep pileing up, (deep silt on the bottem, farmland taken from long time farmers, OPH costs, OPH traffic woes, OPH business impacted, environmental impact on Lake Saint Croix, risk to boat traffic with the proposed bridge, view from Stillwater obstructed by the proposed bridge ETC) yet the project WILL NOT STOP!!
Be back tomorrow.