West Division Street Bridge
The West Division Street Bridge in downtown Fond du Lac may appear to be a simple remove-and-replace bridge project. Yet it is deceiving in its challenges — a project that required engineers to largely deconstruct and rebuild a new structure over the river in a constrained urban environment while retaining enough infrastructure to support uninterrupted use by the Canadian National Railway — whose freight and switch trains utilize this stretch of track at a rate of approximately once every half-hour. The design team came up with a cost-effective solution: to utilize the existing adjacent bridge abutment along with tie-back bracing to hold the railroad fill in place during construction. The team designed the new bridge west abutment to also tie into the adjacent railroad bridge abutment in this very tight construction space between the city’s bridge and the crossing, with construction schedule accommodations for the ongoing, frequent train traffic occurring just feet away.
Railroad accommodations aside, this project was challenging in other ways. The design team needed to coordinate project schedules, staging, and utility relocations with a city-led street reconstruction project underway along on each side of the project site. The designers also needed to be exceptionally mindful about construction operations, utilizing vibration-monitoring equipment to measure frequency so that construction operations would not adversely impact the masonry bricks of the adjacent 1914 Winnebago Cheese Factory — a key component of an exciting corridor revitalization project concurrently underway.
Regarding the bridge replacement itself, the former 1968 bridge structure was showing many signs of deterioration and concern, earning a National Bridge Inventory rating of 3 on a scale of 1-9 — categorized as in “serious condition.” The replacement bridge satisfies both structural and safety concerns by delivering a two-span, haunched concrete slab bridge with two 12-foot-wide travel lanes and 5.5-foot shoulders.
Before and After
The bridge, its approaches and the railroad crossing have been improved for safety as well, incorporating new, 6-foot-wide sidewalks along both sides of the bridge as well as 5-foot-wide raised medians. These medians were designed and implemented because the West Division Bridge crossing is located within a designated railroad “quiet zone,” which means that no locomotive horns can be routinely sounded, causing some impatient or inobservant drivers to navigate around deployed gates to cross the tracks quickly before a train arrives — a huge risk to safety.
The result is an upgraded new bridge that establishes a safe, reliable transit route for vehicles, trains and multi-modal users alike. It also vastly improves the neighborhood aesthetic and sets the stage for future development within this up-and-coming area of Fond du Lac.
The Fond du Lac West Division Street Bridge project was selected to receive a 2025 Engineering Excellence State Finalist Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin (ACEC WI).
Contact Project Lead
Quirin Klink
Team Leader
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Designing a replacement City bridge under tight constraints and vibration-sensitive surroundings.
More7th Street Bridge over the Cedar River
In 2019, MSA partnered with the City of Janesville to replace the existing 7th Street Green Bridge, a three-span steel truss bridge with steel beam approach spans over the Cedar River. Originally constructed in 1930, the bridge was in a state of disrepair with restrictive vertical and lateral clearances and a posted 10-ton weight limit. It was time for a replacement — a project of great size and complexity.
Former three-span bridge over the Cedar River.
Janesville straddles both Bremer and Black Hawk counties, with 7th Street serving as a key connection route between communities. The bridge accommodates an average of 1,800 vehicles per day and is surrounded by a mixture of residential, industrial, and rural agricultural property, with the east end of the bridge located less than 300 feet from the intersection with Main Street. After experiencing years of age and inspection concerns, the DOT and City agreed it was time to replace the bridge with something slightly longer, wider, and safer — without the restrictive overhead structure of the prior bridge design.
During construction of the new five-span bridge.
MSA bridge engineers designed a 501-foot-long, 30-foot-wide, five-span pre-tensioned prestressed concrete beam bridge supported on cap and column piers with drilled shafts founded in bedrock. Approximately 300 feet of existing roadway approaches were replaced as well, and the resulting structure has no posted weight limit, which is an immense improvement for the many heavy vehicles and large agricultural equipment that prefer to utilize this route.
The project also includes street lighting, storm sewer installation, a separated 6-foot-wide pedestrian/bicycle path on the bridge, and construction of a new 8-foot-wide recreational trail on the north side that connects to an existing sidewalk along Main Street. To accommodate this work, extensive coordination with private utilities was required to relocate utilities in conflict. Additional right of way was acquired from adjacent landowners to construct project improvements.
Construction began in January of 2023 and was completed in December 2023, allowing the DOT to utilize this stretch of 7th Street as an emergency detour route for upcoming construction work on IA 218.
The City of Janesville and project partners celebrated the grand re-opening of the bridge on December 15, 2023, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and parade across the new structure led by local police and fire personnel.
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