According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Lafayette Street Bridge will be closed for maintenance for about two months. The project’s main focus will be replacing deteriorating concrete at the bridge joints. The project is expected to be finished by February 25.
The bridge will be totally closed to automobile traffic throughout the repair. But the pedestrian movement will continue to be allowed on one side of the bridge. The bridge would not need to be closed to car traffic during the peak summer tourist season if the joints were fixed now.
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The goal of the initiative is to prevent joint failure before a future rehabilitation endeavor. The bridge replacement project, which MDOT had originally postponed in 2019, is expected to resume. The timeline might change as a result of things like material supply chain problems.
The timeframe also depends on when the project’s money will become available. The bridge replacement is expected to cost between $90-100 million. The schedule matches the maritime transport season and lessens work delays, despite the fact that winter may be a cold time of year for building work.
More on the Lafayette Street Bridge repairs in Michigan
“We’re going to work on a project that actually fixes some of the joint locations’ failed concrete. We’re going to fix those properly even if they’re either filled in with asphalt or concrete. In the bascule bridge’s detachable portion, there are several repair needs.
Therefore, if you had an opening and were working on it, all of your equipment would be down inside the structure, which is not even practical during the holiday shopping season, according to Steve Katenhaus, manager of the MDOT Bay City transportation service center.
