Pool 2 bridge update

Just thought I would throw alittle update from what I saw yesterday while I was out on the water.
Looks like the construction crew has started jack hammering alot of the asphalt off the bridge. By days end it looked like they had cleared a large portion across the bridge surface and side rails. Not sure what that means for the schedule of the rest of the bridge demolition…

If anyone has any feedback on that, I would love to hear about it. Could throw a twist in our fall fishing if they decide to set up some river wide baracades or such?

I just looked through the Wakota Bridge Project website, and it doesn’t have much to say. The schedule is very general and the latest news is pretty old. And nothing about using the river in the FAQ section either. The whole thing is focused on the roads (go figure )

They did list the names of a couple of people you could contact. I’ll send them an e-mail and explain to them that there are a bunch of guys who would like to know what access to the river is gong to be like in the future. Maybe I can get the guy to send me updates, which I can then post here on IDA. I’ll see what I can get out of him.

Rootski

I know they have to work around the barge traffic.
I belive barge traffic shuts down for a month or two
during the winter, so that’s more than likely when they
will drop the bridge.

I would be stunned if there was some kind of floating boom or other blockage across the entire channel. I would think there would be some provision to allow a boat to navigate somewhere through the area.

Even if such an event were planned, I would think it would need to be after the end of the commercial navigation season which is usually in December. I’ll do some digging and let folks know if I come up with anything.

Good thing to stay aware of. Obviously, we need to have access to the good bite that’s already underway.

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I would be stunned if there was some kind of floating boom or other blockage across the entire channel. I would think there would be some provision to allow a boat to navigate somewhere through the area.

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I agree, there will be some openings in the river channel to let water through. Usually barge traffic shuts down from the south in early Dec due to Lake Pepin freezing over and let a week or so to filter the rest of the barges up to Minneapolis.(from what I remember)

Rootski,
Thanks for diggin in on it. I have not much time on my end to do anything as of yet. I will try early next week.
The Willies harbor access is usually go into Dec as well, but with low flows, that may ice over as well if we get a cold snap.

I was down there all day on Monday and I couldn’t believe what I saw! They were jack-hammering the concrete to rubble and pushing it over the edge with a front-end loader into a barge waiting below! I saw some pretty good size chunks actually fall into the river (new walleye habitat?). There was a tug holding the barge in place and when he noticed I wanted to go under the bridge he honked his horn and made jestures at me not to do it. There was no posting at the landing or elsewhere, so I just ignored him and stayed way over to the east side of the channel and kept going, but be careful if you pass under there because you never know what might fall from above! I’m sure the tug operator wasn’t happy I ignored him, but I seriously doubt having him solely responsible for making sure nobody passes under the bridge is either legally binding or completely responsible on the contractor’s part. Just be careful and keep an eye out above.

OK, I sent an e-mail to the contact listed on the Wakota Bridge webpage. I asked him two questions: 1) Would it be possible to find out if the road to the public access would be closed, and 2) How much would small boat traffic on the river be affected by the bridge demolition. I suggested that if he were to e-mail me updates I could then post them here and get the information out to hundreds of people who use Pool 2.

He replied right away this morning and said he’d find out what the plans are and let me know early next week. It was good to see a quick response and perhaps this getleman will be a good source of information.

Rootski

Excellent Steve!
Thats exactly the info we would all love to hear.

Thanks for checking into this. I will be curious to find out what he says next week.

Thanks again!