VIRGINIA, MN— The Highway 53 bridge and relocation project hit a milestone Sept. 23 when it reached the halfway point.
The $230 million project that began last November, with the bridge and roadway scheduled to open to traffic in November of next year, is now 50 percent complete, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
And some other big — seriously big — things have been happening with the project this month.
It takes massive equipment to install girders on what will be Minnesota’s tallest bridge — rising 200 feet above water level.
And the project, overseen by general contractor Kiewit Infrastructure Co., has brought in the right crane to tackle the job — the Sarens owned heavy-lift crawler crane, known as the 1375-ton (US) capacity Terex CC 6800.
The remainder of the girders will be delivered during the next few months, with installation continuing into the winter.
Work also continues on the bridge’s concrete east abutment, as well as on Pier 1, the eastern column.
Mesabi Daily News reports, roadway crews have finished installing water, storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems between Highway 135 and the bridge. They are also still building the base and embankments for much of the new Highway 53 alignment.
Crews continue the reconstruction of southbound Highway 53 from Vermillion Drive to the eastbound ramp to Highway 135. There is one lane of traffic in each direction while the southbound roadway is rebuilt, which will take about another month, according to MnDOT.
During the next several weeks, crews will begin to pave portions from Midway Road to Highway 53. Next year, work will launch to rebuild the northbound side of Highway 53 in that area.
Project officials urge motorists to use the zipper merge to minimize backups near the work zone.
MnDOT built the original roadway in 1960 on land owned by iron mining interests. The easement the agency signed in order to build the highway included a requirement that MnDOT would move the road with three years notice if the mining company needed to get to the ore underneath.
In 2010, Cliffs Natural Resources notified the department that the road had to be moved, and MnDOT and the mining company agreed to a 2017 completion date.
- ANGIE RIEBE STAFF WRITER
