Nearly two months after it was temporarily closed for safety reasons, the Black Hawk Bridge across the Mississippi River at Lansing reopened this weekend — eliminating the need to take a water taxi or drive some 70 miles out of the way to cross at the next closest bridge over the river.
The historic bridge, connecting Lansing with rural Crawford County in Wisconsin, was closed Feb. 25 after some of its piers shifted. Construction on a replacement bridge just feet away likely played a role in causing instability in the old bridge, an Iowa Department of Transportation project manager said earlier this month.
More than 2,200 cars a day use the bridge, and merchants told The Gazette they experienced a drop off in business during its brief closure. One man said he sometimes slept in his car because a free water taxi across the Mississippi ended service too early after he got off work late in Wisconsin and he had to return to a farm near Lansing. A drive to the next closest bridge across the Mississippi is about 35 miles away, and then 35 miles back.
The Iowa DOT said emergency repairs included two new piers and four spans of decking. The bridge was inspected and reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday. The repairs were estimated to cost $2.65 million.
Workers prepare April 10 to place a bridge section as repairs continue on the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing. Repairs later were completed and the bridge was reopened to traffic Saturday after an inspection. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
A seven-day-a-week water taxi service ended when the bridge was reopened. The department estimated the cost of providing the service, operated by a tour company from Marquette, was $255,000.
The contractor building the new Lansing bridge — Kraemer North America — was tapped to do the repairs on the old bridge.
Piers on the historic bridge, which opened as a toll road in 1931, were made of timber and extended only about 50 feet below the riverbed. The newly repaired piers are made of concrete and extend into bedrock, some 150 feet down.
The new bridge is not expected to be complete and opened to traffic until 2027. Work on the $124 million project so far has been on the Wisconsin side of the river, where the contractor was pouring concrete into two of the new bridge’s five piers.
The Iowa DOT said last week a new piece of heavy equipment needed for the construction was being assembled on a barge.
“It’s called a ringer crane because of the ring it sits on,” the department said in an update. “Instead of moving back and forth on a set of tracks like most cranes, this one can rotate 360 degrees. It is being assembled on a barge and will be used in the river for construction of piers 1 and 2 as well as the new bridge.”
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The historic bridge, connecting Lansing with rural Crawford County in Wisconsin, was closed Feb. 25 after some of its piers shifted. Construction on a replacement bridge just feet away likely played a role in causing instability in the old bridge, an Iowa Department of Transportation project manager said earlier this month.
More than 2,200 cars a day use the bridge, and merchants told The Gazette they experienced a drop off in business during its brief closure. One man said he sometimes slept in his car because a free water taxi across the Mississippi ended service too early after he got off work late in Wisconsin and he had to return to a farm near Lansing. A drive to the next closest bridge across the Mississippi is about 35 miles away, and then 35 miles back.
The Iowa DOT said emergency repairs included two new piers and four spans of decking. The bridge was inspected and reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday. The repairs were estimated to cost $2.65 million.
A seven-day-a-week water taxi service ended when the bridge was reopened. The department estimated the cost of providing the service, operated by a tour company from Marquette, was $255,000.
The contractor building the new Lansing bridge — Kraemer North America — was tapped to do the repairs on the old bridge.
Piers on the historic bridge, which opened as a toll road in 1931, were made of timber and extended only about 50 feet below the riverbed. The newly repaired piers are made of concrete and extend into bedrock, some 150 feet down.
The new bridge is not expected to be complete and opened to traffic until 2027. Work on the $124 million project so far has been on the Wisconsin side of the river, where the contractor was pouring concrete into two of the new bridge’s five piers.
The Iowa DOT said last week a new piece of heavy equipment needed for the construction was being assembled on a barge.
“It’s called a ringer crane because of the ring it sits on,” the department said in an update. “Instead of moving back and forth on a set of tracks like most cranes, this one can rotate 360 degrees. It is being assembled on a barge and will be used in the river for construction of piers 1 and 2 as well as the new bridge.”
Lansing’s Black Hawk Bridge reopens
Crossing over Mississippi closed Feb. 25 when piers shifted
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