STH 73 Bridge | Taylor County

Type:	Bridge Rehabilitation
Client:	WisDOT Northwest Region (Eau Claire)
KL’s Role:	Prime Consultant
Location:	Taylor County, Wisconsin
Limits:	Thorp to IngramNorth Fork Eau Claire River (B-60-33)
Length:	0.063 miles
Design Complete:	February 2018
Construction Complete:	November 2018
Construction Cost:	$600,000

Engineering Elements

• Accelerated Design Schedule
• Traffic & Crash Analysis
• Field Survey
• Intersection & Roadway Design
• Temporary Traffic Signals
• Traffic Control Construction Staging Plans
• Work Zone Analysis
• Transportation Management Plan
• Environmental Coordination & Permits
• Environmental Document (PEC)
• Design Study Report
• Utility Coordination
• Safety Enhancements
• Structure Plans – Redeck
• Plans, Specifications & Estimate Submittal (PS&E)

KL Engineering designed improvements to the STH 73 bridge over the North Fork Eau Claire River in Taylor County, Wisconsin.  This project was designed on an accelerated schedule, taking it from preliminary design to PS&E in just four months. The bridge deck was widened and replaced for a single span 36-inch prestressed girder bridge.

Bridge Deck Improvements

The existing deck, built in 1983, had suffered through many northern winters and was starting to show its age.  The advanced deterioration of the edge of deck was a safety concern with crumbling concrete and rusting reinforcing steel.The new deck design included a closed parapet which meets current crash testing requirements, improves safety, and keeps roadway runoff from corroding the edge of the deck.  Additional structural improvements included extending the parapets and the use of asphaltic flumes to prevent erosion around the wing walls.  Wing strapping was also added to prevent further tipping of the wing walls.

Staged Construction

Viable detour routes for this portion of STH 73 were over 50 miles long.  To reduce impacts to this long truck route, the bridge was redecked in stages.  After careful analysis of the geometry of the structure, we were able to maintain a single 12-foot lane on the structure during construction.  A single lane of bi-directional traffic was controlled through the work zone by temporary signals. 

  

Safety Improvements

The North Fork Eau Claire River bridge lies in the middle of an offset intersection with the west leg of Pine Drive just north of the bridge and the east leg of Pine Drive just south of the bridge. Vehicle sight lines were maintained by using minimum standards for bridge parapet heights and the guard rail was upgraded to current short radius standards.  We worked closely with WisDOT NW Region and Central Office in the detailing of a crash cushion to provide vehicular protection for the NW corner of the bridge where standard guard rail elements could not be used.The project was constructed in 2018.Construction Cost:  $600,000