Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wenzel Engineering, Inc.                          http://www.wenzelengineering.com/

Shakopee Pedestrian Bridge Rehabilitaion


The Shakopee bridge was opened in 1927 to service vehicle traffic. When the Hwy 101 bridge was opened a couple hundred feet downstream this old bridge was converted into a pedestrian bridge. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this old bridge was able to get some much needed repairs. Wenzel Engineering was hired by the contractor to devise a way to support the bridge so members could be removed and replaced.

Above is the basic set up. We spanned load-carrying members from pier to pier and used wales with tie rods to lift the bridge at specific points in order to remove the load in only the members that needed to be removed.


The picture below shows the bridge with one of the fracture critical bottom chord members removed.


Another picture with a different member removed. Here the member had already been re-painted.


This picture shows the cutting operation.




Wenzel Engineering, Inc.
www.wenzelengineering.com