County Trunk B bridge to be replaced

MANAWA – Construction is set to begin next month to replace the 77-year-old County Trunk B bridge over the Little Wolf River near the Mid-Western Rodeo grounds in Manawa.

The work will start following the completion of the Mid-Western Rodeo in early July to minimize local traffic disruptions. While construction is ongoing, the bridge will be entirely closed to traffic.

Drivers will be detoured around the west side of Manawa via County Highway B, Spring Creek Road, County Highway N and State Highway 22. The roadway is expected to reopen in November.

Originally constructed in 1949, the current two-span steel girder bridge is deteriorating and reaching the end of its useful life, according to planning documents.

Waupaca County Highway Commissioner Casey Beyersdorf said the new structure, designed by Strand Associates, will be a three-span concrete haunched slab bridge, which eliminates the need for supporting beams underneath.

“The three-span haunch slab span will not include a raised sidewalk, so it will be a very large-looking deck that will be able to accommodate the farm equipment and also the non-vehicular traffic,” Beyersdorf said.

The project will expand the bridge’s width by 10 feet, growing from 24 feet wide to 34 feet to provide more room for bicycles, snowmobiles, pedestrians and equestrians.

“Hopefully a little wider bridge will help pedestrian traffic that wants to go back and forth across it a little bit, make it a little bit easier for those folks,” Beyersdorf said. “You don’t want to get on a bridge and then have a car meet you and it’s a pinch point. So, there’s a lot of reasons why we designed it the way we did.”

Updated steel guardrails will be installed and the roadway will be reconstructed with new pavement from about 200 feet west and east of the bridge.

The project is primarily funded through a bridge grant from the state’s Surface Transportation Program. The new bridge is estimated to cost about $1.44 million to build, with the grant covering about $1.11 million. Waupaca County’s share is expected to total about $538,000.

Beyersdorf said the county’s contribution includes costs that are not eligible for reimbursement through the grant program, including expenses related to environmental mitigation and complex construction requirements.

Before construction could begin, crews had to relocate endangered snuffbox mussels from the Little Wolf River near the project site, he said. Costs associated with installing cofferdams, which are temporary barriers used to keep water out of the construction area during construction, were also higher than anticipated.