Motorists traveling across the St. Croix River bridge south of Stillwater next week may encounter lane and ramp closures as maintenance crews work to remove the bridge’s peeling epoxy coating.
Crews are scheduled to be working from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Work on the eastbound lanes will be done first; crews will then switch to the westbound lanes. In addition to the possible lane and ramp closures, there will be a 12-foot width restriction on the bridge, said Kent Barnard, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The closures may be extended if additional days are needed to complete the work.
A different sealer with grit for traction will be applied to the bridge deck later in August, Barnard said.
The wear surface is applied to larger, more costly bridges to protect and preserve the bridge deck and driving surface, he said.
Crews next week also will be replacing the 10 boat navigation lights on the bottom of the bridge.
A crew of MnDOT electrical service technicians will be replacing the red lights on each of the 10 bridge piers starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The crew will be working off of a barge in the river to access the lights on each pier.
This is the first time the red navigation lights have been replaced since the bridge opened in August of 2017, Barnard said. Although one of the 10 lights has burned out, the LED navigation lights used on the bridge are sealed, which extends their service life, he said.
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The electrical crew will work off a barge in the river to access the lights on each pier; a 16-foot boat will be used to move the barge in to position at each location, Barnard said.
No impacts to vehicle traffic on the bridge are expected.
“There will be minimal impacts to the waterway since the barge will be next to each pier, and the river is wide in this area,” he said. “There could be some minor, short duration impacts to the public boat access located under the bridge on the Minnesota side since the first piers are close to the boat ramp. However, there should be ample space for boats to launch while crews are working.”
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