The Sounds of the St. Croix River Crossing Project Will Soon Begin

The sights and sounds of construction will begin in the St. Croix River Valley over the next couple of months when crews start pile-driving steel shafts into the river bottom to determine how much weight in can hold.

The load tests help provide bridge designers with critical information on soil conditions under the river, which will help determine the final designs of the St. Croix River Crossing Project and reduce risks during construction.

"It will be pile-driving, so there will be noise," Paul Kivisto, MnDOT’s metro region bridge engineer told the Star Tribune. "We are using a hammer to drive big steel shells down into fairly dense material at the bottom of the river."

That noise will be loud, but limited to short intervals over a period of 20 days, Kivisto said.

The cost of load testing is $3 million, according to MnDOT. The estimated benefit is that it reduces foundation costs of $10-$15 million. 

What Is The Purpose Of The Load Test?

• Gathers data for more refined foundation designs
• Helps contractor prepare a bid with fewer contingencies
• Proves whether proposed foundations can be efficiently constructed in river
• Reduces risk, and thereby project costs, to the project

Other Projects Using Load Tests

• I-94 Wakota Bridge in South St. Paul
• Hwy 52 Lafayette Bridge in St. Paul
• Hwy 61 Mississippi River Bridge in Hastings
• Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis  

Environmental Concerns

• Potential Higgins’ eye pearly mussel habitat along Wisconsin shoreline
• Zebra mussels
• Fish habitat during spawning
• Issues during construction

           * Barge decontamination by contractor

           * Water quality protection

           * Pollution prevention plan from contractor to MnDOT and DNR

           * Construction materials staging area

• Project schedule and ice on the river

Click on this link for information provided by MnDOT during the St. Croix River Crossing Project.

Sign up to follow river crossing updates on Facebook by clicking here.

The next open house about the project will be held Monday, April 23 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at .

To read more of Patch's coverage of the St. Croix River Crossing Project, poke around on the St. Croix River Crossing Topic Page.