Building bridges, part 2

Written by Mike Linderman, Sectional Archaeology Manager at Angel Mounds State Historic Site

On Tuesday morning, the three 60-foot sections of the new bridge arrived from Wisconsin. Three semis carrying the bridge parts left central Wisconsin Monday morning from the fabricator. When they arrived at the site, they had to negotiate the front gates of and then back down to the edge of the slough where a crane lifted the bridge off the trailers. Within two hours they were set in place awaiting the final attachment to the bridge piers.

Next step is building the landscape up to meet the height of the new bridge so that a walk can be poured from the building and across the bridge to the village site. We expect to have the bridge project completed by the end of the month.

Read part 1 of “Building Bridges.”

   

Building bridges

Written by Mike Linderman, Sectional Archaeology Manager at Angel Mounds State Historic Site

Work began last week at Angel Mounds State Historic Site on the construction of our new visitor access bridge. An enormous crane has been set up on the site to begin driving the bridge supports into the slough waterway behind the building. Each metal support is 35 feet long and will be filled with concrete upon final placement. This is what the new metal and concrete bridge will sit on.

The new bridge will be of steel construction with a concrete walking surface. This replaces the third bridge at this location, which was taken down in 2009 due to severe wood rot.

The new bridge will be 180 feet long crossing the waterway behind the building and allowing public access to the Mississippian village site.

A rendering of the new bridge. The old bridge is featured in the inset.