An official dedication tonight (5-630pm) for the rehabbed Highway 99 Minnesota River Bridge at Saint Peter. Project manager Zachary Tess says the historic bridge was originally built in 1931. “It’s really only had two major repairs since 1931, one in 1965 and one in 1983,” he says, “and so really this bridge has been around for awhile and has withstood the test of time.”
Tess says the major rehabilitation includes strengthened truss floor beams, foundation rehab and a totally new deck. The historic Highway 99 bridge also sports its original paint color — dark green. The project started in March 2017 and cost 4.9 million dollars.
MN-DOT’s news release:
Historical Highway 99 bridge ceremony to be held August 21 in St. Peter
Mankato, Minn. – The rehabilitation of the historic Highway 99 Minnesota River Bridge was completed in July with final painting and light installation, and will be recognized in a ceremony on Tuesday, August 21.
The St. Peter Chamber of Commerce is hosting an event from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., with the bridge ceremony starting at 5:45 p.m. The event will be held in the Levee Park at 101 South Front Street in St. Peter, and the public is welcome to attend.
The majority of the construction done on the Highway 99 bridge project was in 2017, with finish work completed in 2018. The project included preserving the 1931 historic bridge by strengthening the truss floor beams, repairing the piers and abutment, adding riprap (rocks) around abutments, replacing the bridge deck and sidewalk, adding new lights and repainting the structure the original color of a dark green.
A time-lapse video was created to capture the rehabilitation work done in 2017 youtube.com/watch?v=7Y4VJfYCgZw&feature=youtu.be.
The $4.9-million project was awarded to Kraemer North America LLC. More information on the Highway 99 Bridge project can be found at mndot.gov/d7/projects/hwy99stpeter/.