Hennepin County Franklin Avenue Bridge

Overview

The historic Franklin Avenue Bridge, built in 1923 and first rehabilitated in 1970, is a 1,050-foot-long, five-span, open concrete deck arch structure crossing the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN. The bridge serves as a vital link for local communities. When advanced degradation made rehabilitation necessary, Kraemer applied accelerated bridge construction techniques, including prefabricated bridge elements and systems consisting of 43 precast spandrel cap beams, 350 deck panels, and 163 ornamental rail panels to replace the bridge deck and spandrel cap beams. Deck panels were connected with ultra-high-performance concrete and covered with premixed polymer concrete wearing course creating a redundant waterproof layer. The team incorporated elements from the original design and utilized innovative techniques and materials. The bridge was closed on May 8, 2016, and re-opened to traffic on September 1, 2016, following 116 days of closure.