Shun Jie Yong | PhotographerUniversity Drive will be closed again from Monday, July 23 through August 5 for maintenance work on the pedestrian bridge as well as University Bridge which connects south St. Cloud and southeast St. Cloud.
It is the responsibility of the city to inspect and maintain the pedestrian bridge since it crosses a city street, said Angie Tomovic, city project manager for St. Cloud.
“None,” said Tim Norton, director of Facilities Management at SCSU about the involvement the university has with the repair work being done to both bridges.
“I don’t see any St. Cloud State [University] involvement,” Tomovic said.
SCSU does not have a direct part in any of the work which is scheduled to be done other than working with the city to make sure there are no major events taking place during the road closure, she said.
The work, which is scheduled to take place during the next two weeks, was something which was planned before parts of the pedestrian bridge fell on to University Drive.
Tomovic said when the city inspected the bridge crossing University Drive last year with MnDOT, the loose concrete on the bridge was noted and maintenance was planned for sometime this summer.
The temperatures this summer played a role in the falling concrete from the bridge.
“Unfortunately, with the high temperatures, additional pieces of concrete fell,” Tomovic said.
The city of St. Cloud performs inspections every other year, which is stipulated by state law, she said, and the next inspections will take place in 2013.
The work on the bridges will be done by MnDOT and the schedule was coordinated with SCSU to make sure it would not interfere with any of the major events taking place on campus during the summer or with move-in weekend.
The loose concrete will be sandblasted and a new layer of concrete will be applied with a protective coating to help keep the new concrete intact.
“[MnDOT] will be painting with a special paint to give protection,” Tomovic said.
The bridge crossing the Mississippi River will also be undergoing repairs during the two weeks University Drive will be closed.
The project is expected to cost between $15,000 and $20,000 and the pedestrian bridge will take close to three days to complete.
The work on University Bridge will take close to five days, Tomovic said, adding MnDOT will allow themselves 10 working days to complete both projects.
Tomovic said there was leakage and drainage underneath the joints on the bridge which will be replaced. All of the work which will be done was planned for this summer after the inspections during 2011.
The city will provide all of the traffic support during the closure of University Drive.
The First Avenue bridge is also included in this repair project and will be completed within the same time frame, Tomovic said.
There are many other road projects which need to be completed and are on the schedule, Tomovic said, and they will be completed when MnDOT’s schedule allows.
