I-90 Mississippi River Bridge

I-90 Mississippi River Bridge
Aerial view looking south, with Lock and Dam No. 7 in the foreground and the previous bridge in the background
Coordinates	43°51′28″N 91°17′57″W / 43.85778°N 91.29917°W / 43.85778; -91.29917Coordinates: 43°51′28″N 91°17′57″W / 43.85778°N 91.29917°W / 43.85778; -91.29917
Carries	4 lanes of I‑90
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Dresbach, Minnesota to La Crosse, Wisconsin
Other name(s)	I-90 Dresbach Bridge
Maintained by	Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation
ID number	B-32-0045 (Wisconsin), 9320 (Minnesota) (previous bridge)
Characteristics
Design	Concrete box girder bridge
Total length	2,593 feet (790 m)
Width	45 feet (14 m)-66 feet (20 m) (each span)
Longest span	508 feet (155 m)
History
Opened	October 2016

The I-90 Mississippi River Bridge consists of a pair of bridges that traverse the Mississippi River, connecting the La Crosse, Wisconsin area to rural Winona County, Minnesota. The current bridge fully opened to traffic in October 2016, replacing a previous plate girder bridge. It is part of the Interstate 90 route. There is another automobile crossing a few miles south of this bridge; the Mississippi River Bridge, a combination of two bridges, and the La Crosse West Channel Bridge, connecting La Crescent, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The bridge consists of a pair of parallel, concrete box girder structures over the main river channel and precast concrete girder structures over the back channels. The bridges were completed with a cost of $185.5 million, and have the following specifications:

The bridge connects to the I-90/US 14/US 61 interchange, and provides access to the Dresbach Rest Area/MN Welcome Center and boat launches from westbound I-90. The westbound I-90 to southbound US 14/US 61 interchange has a fly-under ramp allowing continuous movement with no competing traffic.

The previous bridge was a plate girder bridge completed in 1967; the steel structure was painted dark green, and the bridge had a concrete railing. Although the previous bridge had no weight restrictions and operated at an acceptable level of service at the time of replacement, there were a number of problems with the bridge and surrounding roadways:

In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) commissioned a study on ways to rectify some or all of these issues. Some of the options that were presented included:

In addition, the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, MN, on August 1, 2007 led to the effort by Mn/DOT to replace or modify "fracture-critical" bridges in the state.