Lunda/Ames will begin mobilising next week and start driving pile later this month for the bridge to link the two US states. The focus during this winter is pile-driving for the seven pier locations on Minnesota land. The piers will support the Highway 36 approach bridge and ramp bridges that connect to the main river crossing.
Construction components in the contract include an extradosed bridge as well as two ramp bridges, a box-girder approach bridge and a connecting structure.
The construction cost of US$332.5 million plus a time-value component create the overall US$380.3 million value of the bid announced in November. As part of its bid, Lunda/Ames Joint Venture has committed to completing all contract components in 956 calendar days, with planned completion of the bridge in late-summer 2016. In the A plus B bidding process, those days were valued at $47.8 million. By law, these bid specifics could be announced until the contract award.
The extradosed bridge design was chosen to minimise environmental impacts by keeping tower heights below the river bluffs and reducing the number of piers in the river to five.
