Ribbon
falls, cars roll across new McCleary Bridge
MARATHON, Wis. (Oct. 28, 2004) — The ribbon was cut, the band struck up, and the several dozen in attendance dug into drinks and refreshments to celebrate the official opening of the McCleary Bridge on Monday (Oct. 25, 2004).
Following a series of speeches about what the massive structure will mean to local commercial development, elected officials climbed aboard a trolley for the inaugural ride across the span.
"This is a stamp for this being done," said Mike Hammitt of County Materials, who did not ride the trolley but did oversee the pouring of the 6,000-plus cubic yards of ready mix used in the project. "It's been about a year."
County Materials, which supplied all of the ready mix for the project, began pouring on Nov. 10, 2003, and finished on Oct. 18.
One of the biggest challenges associated with the project, according to Hammitt, was that such a long series of pours subjected workers and materials to a spectrum of weather.
"In the cold we had a tough time keeping the aggregate consistent," he said. "One day we'd come out and it'd be 30 degrees, and the next it'd be 10 below. There were days when you couldn't feel your fingers.
"But on our second deck pour, it was the hottest day of the summer. We had to use ice in the concrete ... we went through 40,000 pounds of ice."
Hammitt ensured that either he, or someone from County Materials, was on hand to test every load of ready mix that was bound for the structure.
"It's not something that every company does," Hammitt said. "And it only takes 10 minutes."
And it was such scrutiny that let other project managers focus on innumerable other details.
"I thought (County Materials') concrete got better and better as we went," said Mike Gehl, site manager for Pheifer Brothers Construction of Neenah. "Towards the end, we were pouring sidewalks and parapets almost nonstop.
"But when you have (a County Materials rep) out here, any issues you have can get taken care of right there. It makes it easy on everybody."
Hammitt oversaw the pouring of 3,900 cubic yards of Quality Management Plan concrete for superstructure elements such as diaphragms, deck, parapets and sidewalks; 1,950 cubic yards of QMP ready mix for such substructure as footings, piers and pier caps; and 560 cubic yards of non-QMP concrete for the bridge's seals.
The amount of poured ready mix in the bridge would fill 45 swimming pools of 30,000 gallons each, or cover the playing surface of Lambeau Field to a depth of 3 ½ feet; about waist-high on most of the Green Bay Packers who play there.
County Materials also supplied 96 prestressed concrete girders (each 130 feet, 10 inches long by 30 inches wide and 70 inches high) in 12 spans. The bridge stretches 1,572 feet.
Those girders, if placed end to end, would reach 2 1/3 miles. There are 6 ½ miles of supporting piles under the bridge, and the 1.3 million pounds of reinforcing steel buried inside the concrete would reach from Wausau to Superior, Wis., or from Wausau to Green Bay and back.
All of the pomp and circumstance was little more than a nice break in the action for contractors and workers who aren't ready to pack up and leave the work site just yet.
"We still have a lot of work left to do," said Jake Johnson, site project manager for the engineering firm of Gremmer & Associates. Two of the four lanes are open, and some decorative railing and lighting have yet to be installed.
But Johnson, and the other contractors and workers on hand for Monday's festivities, couldn't deny some swelling of pride as cars began rolling across the new connection between Wausau and the Town of Rib Mountain.
The span replaces the old Snake Bridge, still visible below and just to the east of the new structure. Johnson will lead the effort to dismantle the old causeway by next April. Included in that job will be the construction of a habitat conducive for walleye spawning near the southern end of the causeway.