Carries 4 lanes of Iā90 Total length 790 m Location Dresbach Township | Opened October 2016 Longest span 155 m | |
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Maintained by Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation ID number B-32-0045 (Wisconsin), 9320 (Minnesota) (previous bridge) Similar La Crosse West Channel, Lock and Dam No 7, Main Channel Bridge (W, Fred Schwengel Memorial, Caruthersville Bridge |
The I-90 Mississippi River Bridge consists of a pair of bridges that traverse the Mississippi River, connecting the La Crosse, Wisconsin area to rural Winona County, Minnesota. The current bridge fully opened to traffic in October 2016, replacing a previous plate girder bridge. It is part of the Interstate 90 route. There is another automobile crossing a few miles south of this bridge; the Mississippi River Bridge, a combination of two bridges, and the La Crosse West Channel Bridge, connecting La Crescent, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The bridge consists of a pair of parallel, concrete box girder structures over the main river channel and precast concrete girder structures over the back channels. The bridges were completed with a cost of $185.5 million, and have the following specifications:
The bridge connects to the I-90/US 14/US 61 interchange, and provides access to the Dresbach Rest Area/MN Welcome Center and boat launches from westbound I-90. The westbound I-90 to southbound US 14/US 61 interchange has a fly-under ramp allowing continuous movement with no competing traffic.
History
The previous bridge was a plate girder bridge completed in 1967; the steel structure was painted dark green, and the bridge had a concrete railing. Although the previous bridge had no weight restrictions and operated at an acceptable level of service at the time of replacement, there were a number of problems with the bridge and surrounding roadways:
In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) commissioned a study on ways to rectify some or all of these issues. Some of the options that were presented included:
In addition, the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, MN, on August 1, 2007 led to the effort by Mn/DOT to replace or modify "fracture-critical" bridges in the state.
A concrete box girder bridge design was ultimately selected; with construction beginning January 2013.