Lunda Construction builds innovative bridge over the Mississippi

The Wisconsin-based Lunda Construction Company participated in the construction of the Hastings Bridge, the longest freestanding tied-arch bridge in North America. This record-breaking bridge is located in Hastings, Minnesota, just southeast of the Twin Cities.

The bridge spans a narrow section of the Mississippi River, downstream of Lock and Dam Number 2. This freestanding tied-arch bridge measures 1,938-foot (approximately 591 metres) in total length, with a main span of 545-feet (approximately 166 metres).It was built with a steel box arch rib, with a post tensioned concrete tie girder and network hanger system. The Hastings bridge should have a 100-year long service life.

Due to the project’s limited staging areas, coordination between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, BNSF Railroad, Canadian Pacific (CP) Railroad, and local stakeholders, was required.

In response to this problem, Lunda built the tied arch offsite, and used Mammoet self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) to move the arch onto barges. Following this, the main span arch could be floated down river, and into position at the designated site. This reduced costs, mitigated risk, and reduced impacts to local river traffic.

You can watch the process in this video:

Author: Emma Dailey

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