Sabo bridge to reopen June 4

by Tesha M. Christensen

Minneapolis hopes to reopen the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge on June 4, 2012, three months after a pair of cables fell onto the bridge deck forcing its closure.

A permanent fix has not yet been identified for the five-year-old bridge, but city officials and engineers believe that with some additional shoring the bridge will be safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“It’s really great news,” said Midtown Greenway Executive Director Soren Jensen.

The bridge should be reopen in time for the Greenway Glow, Northern Spark Festival and Urban Assault Ride during the weekend of June 9 to 10. “It’s wonderful timing,” stated Jensen.

Jensen commutes via bicycle from his Longfellow home to the Midtown Greenway office each day. Bike traffic has been picking up, he noted, and the more bicyclists there are at the Hiawatha and 28th Street crossing the more dangerous it becomes. “It’s a challenge as a driver,” he noted. “You have to really crane your neck to look back for bikers [when making a turn].

“The sooner we can get traffic back up on the Sabo Bridge the safer it will be for everyone.”

According to Minneapolis Public Works deputy director Heidi Hamilton, there are several items that need to be done before the bridge can be reopened. First, the temporary shoring now in place needs to be adjusted. Then the tension on the cables attached to the pylon off the backside need to be adjusted. The cables that fell are still lying on the bridge and will need to be removed and secured. Part of this work will be done by city staff and part by contractors.

The measuring devices installed in mid-April to track wind speed, duration of wind and temperature during wind events, as well as stress range movement, amplitude and frequency of cable vibrations experienced by the bridge during wind events have been removed. The city has not yet received either the results of these tests or the metalurgical analysis of the broken plates being done by Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. The information from these two studies will become the basis for the permanent repair plan, which may force a closure of the bridge again in the future.

The city of Minneapolis has spent $420,000 to deal with the bridge failure. Of that, $110,000 has been paid to outside vendors for items such as steel, fencing and shoring; $60,000 to engineering consultants; and $250,000 for internal staff and equipment costs. On top of that, the city and Hennepin County are splitting the $150,000 fee charged by Chicago-based firm Wiss, Janney and Elstner (WJE), which is investigating why the anchor plates holding the cables fractured.

Hamilton pointed out that the city’s attorneys are reviewing what sort of recourse Minneapolis can take, if any, to recoup the costs of dealing with the bridge failure.

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Upcoming bicycle events planned for Bike Walk Week

The Sabo Bridge will reopen just in time for the major events of Bike Walk Week, June 2 to 10, 2012.  For more, see bikewalkweek.org. Weekend highlights include:

GREENWAY GLOW

• Saturday, June 9, 9 p.m. to midnight, Midtown Greenway, Minneapolis

• Registration: $25 before May25/$30 after; raise $75 or more in pledges

This illuminated biking extravaganza will take participants on a brief tour of Northern Spark art installations in the corridor, including a rest stop at the Vine Arts Center and a post-ride party at Intermedia Arts. Glow riders will enjoy free food from Bryant Lake Bowl, and complimentary New Belgium beer. This money will help support the projects and programs of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, which include the Trail Watch safety patrol, Greenspace and Artspace committees, outreach to communities surrounding the Greenway, and working with developers to encourage Greenway-friendly buildings. The ride starts from the area in front of the Midtown Freewheel Bike Center. For more information and to sign up, visit http://www.midtowngreenway.org/GreenwayGlow2012.html

NORTHERN SPARK FESTIVAL

• Dusk on Saturday, June 9 until dawn on Sunday, June 10

• Free to the public

The Northern Spark festival brings artists of all genres together for an entire-night celebration. Masters of interactive media, film, music, performance, comedy, public sculpture, light, DIY technology and more will display their work and engage visitors throughout the city of Minneapolis. See more at http://2012.northernspark.org/

URBAN ASSAULT RIDE

• June 10, 9 a.m., meet at Peace Coffee, 2801 21st Ave. South, Minneapolis

• Register: $30 -60/person; online registration closes June 8 at 4pm

The Urban Assault Ride™ is the biggest Bicycle Obstacle Event series in the nation! Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds. At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more. For more information and to sign up, visit www.urbanassaultride.com/minneapolis.


This story printed in the June 2012 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.