The Leo Frigo Bridge crossing the Fox River as seen from Green Bay Metro Boat Launch. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The DOT will be conducting a routine inspection of the Leo Frigo bridge next week.
“Most bridges we do every 2 years, so this one just being a bigger bridge, we do every year,” said DOT Regional Bridge Maintenance Engineer Jason Lahm. “We look at the elements of a bridge, which is the deck, the superstructure, and the substructures…for cracking, spawls – which are potholes, concrete or asphalt popping off…then we go underneath with this reach-all and we look at the underside of the deck. Again looking for the same type of thing.”
Crews also take a close look at the beams of the superstructure, which supports the deck. Any cracks, rust, or problems with rivets and bolts are closely documented. The Leo Frigo is unique as well, as it has both concrete and steel pieces holding the structure together.
“From that, we can create our maintenance report. Then Madison, the Bureau of Structures, takes that and depending on what we find, starts looking out in the program for where and what should be done to this bridge based on what we’re finding,” Lahm told WTAQ News.
But after the 2013 sag in the structure, some may question what exactly is done to address any issues that may arise during the inspection process.
“There’s a lot of different things we’re looking at it if we see a crack. Where’s it at? How wide is it? Where’s it going? What part of the bridge – is in a compression or the tension area? Tension areas are much more critical,” Lahm explained. “So if it’s in a tension area and we see cracks, then we determine what the fix is by calling Madison and discussing with Madison. But now, with the technology, we can get an answer right away…It could go in multiple different ways, depending on what you find.”
The ability to instantly share images, run tests, and diagnose problems have been a major benefit, Lahm says.
Other residents may be more concerned with their daily commute than the general health of the bridge itself. But Lahm assures everyone it is a fairly efficient process.
“It all depends on what we see. If we’re seeing a lot of different things, that can be a slower inspection where we’ve got a look a lot closer and do different things. But if we’re not seeing much and we’re seeing what we want to see down there, which we’re expecting, it can go fairly quick for us,” Lahm said. “We’re going to have multiple trucks up there, you’ll see two reach-all trucks. We’re going to have a lot of personnel up there to try to make sure we get this done, and do it safely with a lot of eyes.”
The bridge will see single-lane closures from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. from Monday-Wednesday. The northbound right lane will be closed on Monday. Both the northbound and southbound right lanes will be closed on Tuesday. The southbound right lane will be closed on Wednesday. All work is weather dependent.
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