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<\/a>Paul Kivisto is the Minnesota Department of Transportation\u2019s bridge construction engineer.<\/p><\/div> One of the Ringer cranes is already in place on a temporary pad built next to the Wisconsin shoreline; it arrived in pieces via 50 semitractor-trailer loads. The other is being partially assembled in Winona, Minn., and will be shipped by\u00a0barge next week; it will sit on an 80- by 260-foot platform in the middle of the river.<\/p>\n The cranes, which can move 360 degrees, will be used throughout the construction season and could be used again in 2017, Kivisto said. He said he did not know how much the cranes, which can rent for up to $80,000 a month, would add to the project\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n A mild winter with minimal snow and an early ice-out have helped the construction schedule, Kivisto said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe river opened up early, so we were able to erect some segments earlier than we otherwise would have anticipated, so that\u2019s all been good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The bridge was scheduled to open this fall, but MnDOT announced in January that completion would not happen for another year. Officials attributed the delay to\u00a0equipment\u00a0problems, material shortages, high water in the spring 2014 and a cold snap in late 2014 that brought ice and low temperatures sooner than expected.<\/p>\n Crews will begin working at night \u2014 from 3 p.m. to midnight or 1 a.m. \u2014 starting Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cDepending on how it goes throughout the summer, that may be extended to be 24 hours a day,\u201d Kivisto said.<\/p>\n By the end of this year\u2019s construction season, the bridge should begin to really look like a bridge, he said, with the piers cantilevered out to be within 2\u00bd feet of each other.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest challenge that we have is making sure that our geometry is correct,\u201d Kivisto said. Each segment is surveyed within 1\/1000th of a foot \u2014 both in the casting yard and on site, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the critical pieces is making sure, geometry-wise, that the cantilevers coming from the two different piers will meet in the middle,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of room for tolerance, the ducts themselves can accommodate a couple of inches out of alignment and we also could jack either horizontally or vertically a little bit if needed to put them together.\u201d<\/p>\n Concrete \u201ccreeps and shrinks,\u201d so crews must account for that, he said.<\/p>\n The closure pour \u2014 the pour that will fill in the bridge\u2019s last 2\u00bd-foot gap \u2014 will happen between Piers 8 and 9, the ones closest to the Minnesota side of the river, Kivisto said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some structural reasons for that,\u201d he said. \u201c(Pier 8 is) the pier that is the shortest. It\u2019s also the one that has the most force because of the amount of movement experienced there.<\/p>\n He said the closure pour will likely happen in spring of 2017.<\/p>\n About 200 workers are employed at the site and at the casting yards near the Minnesota 36-Minnesota 95 interchange and at Grey Cloud Island.\u00a0About 400 workers are expected to be on the payroll this summer.<\/p>\n About 25 percent of the segments on the main span are erected, and about 50 percent of the segments on the approach spans are erected, Kivisto said.<\/p>\n The new bridge will connect Oak Park Heights and Houlton, Wis., and will replace the aging Stillwater Lift Bridge, which will become part of a hiking and biking trail.<\/p>\n The estimated cost of the project, which includes approach work and creating the trail, is $580 million to $646 million. Construction of the bridge foundation began in the spring of 2013.<\/p>\n By MARY DIVINE<\/a> | mdivine@pioneerpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n Staff photographer Bill Klotz watched construction crews work on the bridge project:<\/a><\/p>\n