Bridge undergoes repairs after being found unsafe for traffic
Fontana employees traditionally work diligently to prepare for the July 4 holiday, the busiest time of the year for the resort village.
This year’s preparations may have been the most challenging yet, with the South Lakeshore Drive bridge being deemed unsafe and closed to traffic on June 26, according to Dennis Martin, Fontana’s clerk and administrator.
The village board held emergency meetings on June 26 and 28 to approve repair work to be done on the bridge. Work on the bridge began Monday morning to complete a short-term solution by July 3.
With thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday evenings, work fell slightly behind schedule, Martin said. Still, by Wednesday at 1 p.m., work on seven of the eight pilings had been completed. New pilings on both sides of the bridge were designed to support two steel beams under the current bridge deck structure.
The bridge, which will have speed restrictions for two lanes of traffic, will be a temporary solution for the summer, Martin said. The bridge will be incorporated into a permanent structure that will be built in the fall to permit two lanes of traffic.
“Even if the bridge is not open by the Fourth of July, everyone will still be able to come into town for the fireworks,” Martin said.
Rerouting traffic
Both Collins Engineering, Inc., and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation agreed on June 26 that the bridge was unsafe for traffic and should be closed immediately, pending repairs.
“It has some capability to hold loads, but not very much; basically, the dead load, or the load that is the bridge itself. That is why we asked to take traffic off it immediately, because if you get a big truck over it, that could catastrophically fail,” Tom Collins, a structural engineer with Collins Engineering, Inc., told the village board last week.
Traffic was detoured south on Highway 67 to County Highway B, to Indian Hills Road and back to South Lakeshore Drive.
Pedestrians are now permitted to walk over the bridge. The sidewalks under the bridge will remain closed until a reconstruction project has been completed in the fall.
During construction, there were 15-minute scheduled breaks to allow boats through the Abbey channel at 9 a.m., 12 noon and 5 p.m.
Once the repair project is completed, cars and pedestrians will be allowed on the bridge, but trucks and trailers will not be permitted on the bridge.
Fire and rescue vehicles were available on both sides of the bridge throughout the construction, Village Board President Arvid Petersen said.
Bridge inspections
As required by the state, the bridge is inspected by Walworth County every other year, Martin said. The bridge passed its last inspection, which was done last year, he said.
However, in January, Director of Streets Ron Adams noticed some structural defects on the bridge, Martin said.
That prompted the village board to authorize an initial inspection by Collins Engineering, which was conducted two months ago. Collins Engineering recommended a subsequent comprehensive study of the bridge, which was completed on June 25.
On the evening of June 25, engineers reviewed the study and found that the majority of pilings had buckled and the bridge could be compromised at any moment, Collins said.
Collins contacted the village the following morning to recommend that the bridge be closed immediately, along with the sidewalks under the bridge. The village complied and called for an emergency board meeting.
Cost of repairs
The village board authorized Collins Engineers, Inc., and Scherrer Construction Company, Inc., to design and construct a temporary bridge on June 26.
Scherrer Construction was prequalified with the state to work on bridge projects. Necessary permits were obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and work began Monday.
The project is estimated to cost between $139,000 and $200,000. On June 28, the board approved an additional $10,000 to bring in a second crane to expedite the completion of the project.
Walworth State Bank will provide a short-term loan if necessary at 2.45 percent interest, Bank President Robert Klockars told the village board on June 28. The state pool quoted an interest rate of 2.5 percent, Klockars said.
Wisconsin State Rep. Amy Loudenbeck said on June 26 that she had contacted the state Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation and the governor’s office and that the village may be eligible for emergency funding for the bridge. She said that the village should keep her updated on the project.
