Disalle Bridge project on schedule

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - It’s been three years since ODOT started the massive rebuild project on the DiSalle Bridge, and so far, things are going smoothly. And if the project stays on track, Brian French, Area Engineer with ODOT District 2 tells 13abc, “There’s not going to be any changes to traffic from here to the end of the job. It’ll pretty much stay the way it is until mid to late-2023.”

From closing exit ramps, reopening new ones, and taking down parts of the old bridge, it’s been a busy few years. Now, project managers with the Ohio Department of Transportation say the project is going off the existing roadway this winter.

French explains, “We’re hoping to get a lot of the substructure work done. We’re really concentrating on that because we need to get the bridge built and up so we can flip the causeway to the other side of the river.”

That causeway is made up of tons and tons of stones, providing a ground to work on the bridge from. And the remaining section of the old bridge still needs to come down.

“There could be some big booms coming in the future, yes,” says French. “We have to close down 75 when we do it, and we don’t really want to close down 75 in the middle of the day.”

But just like in September, there won’t be a heads up. “It’s not because we don’t want to tell anybody, it’s purely for safety.”

ODOT also provided an update on a September incident, when engineers noticed a shift in an embankment on the north side of the project.

Mike Benton is a Project Engineer with ODOT District 2. He tells 13abc, “Back in September, we had a temporary retaining wall on southbound I-75, where traffic is currently, we noticed some movement in it. It appears to have stabilized, so we continue to work.”

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2021 WTVG. All rights reserved.