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Deep muck raises St. Croix River bridge costs

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Apr 30, 2012 at 9:44 am

STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) - The price tag for the new St. Croix River bridge could hit $676 million -- almost triple the $234 million spent on the rush job to replace the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

And the main reason, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation official in charge of both projects, is muck

Project manager Jon Chiglo tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/ImfTJz) the deep muck at the bottom of the St. Croix means foundation work for the new bridge accounts for 40 percent of the total cost estimate.

Work to bore test shafts will begin in late May, and construction of the bridge linking Minnesota and Wisconsin at Stillwater is slated to start in the spring of 2013 and end in 2016.