Discovery Bridge
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Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan PAGE 3B Saturday, October 4, 2008 DISCOVERYDedication2008 P&D FILE PHOTOS LEFT: Groundbreaking for the Discovery Bridge project took place on the morning of July 4, 2007, at the south end of Broadway in Yankton. ABOVE: This is perhaps the earliest photo in the Press & Dakotan files of the first dirt work for the Discovery Bridge. This image was taken Feb. 23, 2007. Construction crews were able to work through cold weather and complete the bridge project a year sooner than originally anticipated. Road To Discovery: A History Of A Bridge BY NATHAN JOHNSON nathan.johnson@yankton.net Today, the Discovery Bridge stretches across the Missouri River. Composed of tons of concrete and featuring spires that reach to the sky, it is a grandiose southern gateway to Yankton. But less than 18 months ago, the bridge project had a hard time finding its feet. Due to continuing input from regulatory agencies and a paperwork mix-up, the bid letting for the bridge was delayed by the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) several times. It was the 1980s when area business and political leaders started sewing the seeds for the new bridge. In the 1990s, momentum for the project built and government agencies began setting aside funding for its construction. Now, on the eve of construction, community leaders were anxious to overcome the final hiccup in a decades-long process. On May 2, 2007, the project got some good news that set the stage for its successful completion. At the NDOR headquarters in Lincoln, Neb., the bid letting was completed and the Jensen Construction Company of Des Moines, Iowa, put forth a $23.9 million bid for the project. John Baker, an engineer in the NDOR s roadway design division who put together the bridge project package, said at the time the bid was acceptable. The biggest challenges in this project were probably the environmental challenges, he said of putting the package together. We ve been working on the process of this bridge for over 10 years, as everyone in Yankton and on the bridge committee is well aware of. We ll have to be constantly vigilant and make sure we stay in compliance on everything. Jensen Construction was no stranger to the Yankton area. It had also built the Missouri River bridges at Newcastle-Vermillion and Niobrara-Springfield. The Discovery Bridge, a joint NDOR/South Dakota Department of Roads (SDDOT) project, was now on schedule for a winter 2009 completion date. It was also on that pleasant spring day that the Building Yankton s Bridge to the Future Committee (BYBC) settled a minor controversy in the bridge process by dropping the Yankton from the official title of the structure. For several months after the name PHOTOS: DAVE TUNGE/DAKOTA AERIALS Two birds-eye views of the development of the Discovery Bridge, courtesy of Dave Tunge of Dakota Aerials. The view on the left was taken in the summer of 2007 while the second shot, from nearly the identical position, was shot in the late summer of 2008 was announced, some Nebraskans had grumbled that it wasn t just Yankton s bridge it was theirs, too. It s the Discovery Bridge, let s leave it at that, said Jim Black, chairman of the BYBC. The Yankton has been dropped. It didn t take long for Jensen Construction to announce a new timeline for bridge construction one that exceeded all expectations. By the end of May, before construction had even commenced, the company said it hoped to wrap up work on the new bridge by the end of 2008, a full year ahead of what the NDOR had projected. Hoping is the key word, said Dan Timmons, vice president of Jensen Construction. We need to make some pretty good progress this year. If we get a good start next spring, there s a real chance we ll be done next year. With construction work in its infancy, area residents held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Discovery Bridge on July 4, 2007. An estimated crowd of 250 people huddled under the shade of trees at Yankton s Broadway and Riverside Drive intersection that hot holiday morning as they took in the historic event. Across the river in Nebraska, large cranes and other construction equipment sat dormant after a month of laying the groundwork for the new bridge that would come into Yankton where the crowd was assembled. Cedar County (Neb.) Commissioner Frederick Pinkelman told the crowd he was optimistic construction of the new bridge would positively impact area residents. It is my hope that in the spirit of appreciation, and with God s help, we d all be inspired to strive to make our communities on both sides of the river even better places to live now and for future generations, he said. By January 2008, the piers for the bridge had been poured and luck was on the construction company s side. When you re drilling holes in the ground, you don t know what you ll find. You still have some risk there, Timmons said. Ultimately, many of the drilled shafts for the bridge s piers didn t need to be as deep as originally thought. That cut about $350,000 from the project s cost, Timmons explained. Controlled water levels due to the bridge s proximity to the Gavins Point Dam and a lack of ice on the river also helped propel the project along at a good pace, he said. Timmons estimated that 5.4 million pounds of steel would be hung on the bridge piers during the following 2 1/2 months. We re ready to pull the trigger, he said. The trigger was pulled and on a Tuesday in mid-March, a crowd of onlookers was on hand as construction crews set the first steel girder to touch Yankton s shoreline and complete the NebraskaSouth Dakota span. By that time, the BYBC was already making tentative plans for an October ribbon cutting for the bridge. Meanwhile, construction crews began building the forms for the deck of the bridge. Although a 10-ton load limit on the Meridian Bridge for part of the summer put a kink in the plans for pouring concrete on the Discovery s deck a supplier on the Nebraska side of the river had to be used briefly the final segment of the deck was poured in August. At that point, crews began stripping the wooden forms from the deck and installing the bridge s 50-foot spires, which had started arriving around that time in the form of five-foot precast sections. All we do is set one down on top of the other, said Bob Wiebelhaus, a project manager HISTORY, Page 8B please Congratulations on the Discovery Bridge ... The bridge that leads to Linda s Angel Crossing - Morgen Square on Broadway D I S C O V E R Y ~ Delightful fashions for ladies & children ~ Individual service ~ Smiles everywhere ~ Children count, too ~ Over the top! ~ Variety ~ Every customer counts ~ Reaching out for your business ~ You count! Great Plains Therapy is a leading provider of preventative, rehabilitative, and performance enhancing programs with services that focus on individualized care and patient education. We accept most insurance and remind you that it is your legal right to choose your provider. Linda s Angel Crossing 1101 Broadway, Morgen Square 665-0080 8th & Summit, Yankton, SD 605-665-3861 1407 E. Cherry, Vermillion 605-624-7246 Ruth Scott, PT/Owner Sarah Roob, PT Nancy Weber, PT Pat Hauer, PT Will You Be Spotted Crossing The Discovery Bridge? Go To spotted.yankton.net t After the October 11th Dedication Ceremony To See If You Were Spotted!!
- Linda's Angel Crossing
- Great Plains Therapy
- Spotted
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Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan PAGE 3B Saturday, October 4, 2008 DISCOVERYDedication2008 P&D FILE PHOTOS LEFT: Groundbreaking for the Discovery Bridge project took place on the morning of July 4, 2007, at the south end of Broadway in Yankton. ABOVE: This is perhaps the earliest photo in the Press & Dakotan files of the first dirt work for the Discovery Bridge. This image was taken Feb. 23, 2007. Construction crews were able to work through cold weather and complete the bridge project a year sooner than originally anticipated. Road To Discovery: A History Of A Bridge BY NATHAN JOHNSON nathan.johnson@yankton.net Today, the Discovery Bridge stretches across the Missouri River. Composed of tons of concrete and featuring spires that reach to the sky, it is a grandiose southern gateway to Yankton. But less than 18 months ago, the bridge project had a hard time finding its feet. Due to continuing input from regulatory agencies and a paperwork mix-up, the bid letting for the bridge was delayed by the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) several times. It was the 1980s when area business and political leaders started sewing the seeds for the new bridge. In the 1990s, momentum for the project built and government agencies began setting aside funding for its construction. Now, on the eve of construction, community leaders were anxious to overcome the final hiccup in a decades-long process. On May 2, 2007, the project got some good news that set the stage for its successful completion. At the NDOR headquarters in Lincoln, Neb., the bid letting was completed and the Jensen Construction Company of Des Moines, Iowa, put forth a $23.9 million bid for the project. John Baker, an engineer in the NDOR s roadway design division who put together the bridge project package, said at the time the bid was acceptable. The biggest challenges in this project were probably the environmental challenges, he said of putting the package together. We ve been working on the process of this bridge for over 10 years, as everyone in Yankton and on the bridge committee is well aware of. We ll have to be constantly vigilant and make sure we stay in compliance on everything. Jensen Construction was no stranger to the Yankton area. It had also built the Missouri River bridges at Newcastle-Vermillion and Niobrara-Springfield. The Discovery Bridge, a joint NDOR/South Dakota Department of Roads (SDDOT) project, was now on schedule for a winter 2009 completion date. It was also on that pleasant spring day that the Building Yankton s Bridge to the Future Committee (BYBC) settled a minor controversy in the bridge process by dropping the Yankton from the official title of the structure. For several months after the name PHOTOS: DAVE TUNGE/DAKOTA AERIALS Two birds-eye views of the development of the Discovery Bridge, courtesy of Dave Tunge of Dakota Aerials. The view on the left was taken in the summer of 2007 while the second shot, from nearly the identical position, was shot in the late summer of 2008 was announced, some Nebraskans had grumbled that it wasn t just Yankton s bridge it was theirs, too. It s the Discovery Bridge, let s leave it at that, said Jim Black, chairman of the BYBC. The Yankton has been dropped. It didn t take long for Jensen Construction to announce a new timeline for bridge construction one that exceeded all expectations. By the end of May, before construction had even commenced, the company said it hoped to wrap up work on the new bridge by the end of 2008, a full year ahead of what the NDOR had projected. Hoping is the key word, said Dan Timmons, vice president of Jensen Construction. We need to make some pretty good progress this year. If we get a good start next spring, there s a real chance we ll be done next year. With construction work in its infancy, area residents held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Discovery Bridge on July 4, 2007. An estimated crowd of 250 people huddled under the shade of trees at Yankton s Broadway and Riverside Drive intersection that hot holiday morning as they took in the historic event. Across the river in Nebraska, large cranes and other construction equipment sat dormant after a month of laying the groundwork for the new bridge that would come into Yankton where the crowd was assembled. Cedar County (Neb.) Commissioner Frederick Pinkelman told the crowd he was optimistic construction of the new bridge would positively impact area residents. It is my hope that in the spirit of appreciation, and with God s help, we d all be inspired to strive to make our communities on both sides of the river even better places to live now and for future generations, he said. By January 2008, the piers for the bridge had been poured and luck was on the construction company s side. When you re drilling holes in the ground, you don t know what you ll find. You still have some risk there, Timmons said. Ultimately, many of the drilled shafts for the bridge s piers didn t need to be as deep as originally thought. That cut about $350,000 from the project s cost, Timmons explained. Controlled water levels due to the bridge s proximity to the Gavins Point Dam and a lack of ice on the river also helped propel the project along at a good pace, he said. Timmons estimated that 5.4 million pounds of steel would be hung on the bridge piers during the following 2 1/2 months. We re ready to pull the trigger, he said. The trigger was pulled and on a Tuesday in mid-March, a crowd of onlookers was on hand as construction crews set the first steel girder to touch Yankton s shoreline and complete the NebraskaSouth Dakota span. By that time, the BYBC was already making tentative plans for an October ribbon cutting for the bridge. Meanwhile, construction crews began building the forms for the deck of the bridge. Although a 10-ton load limit on the Meridian Bridge for part of the summer put a kink in the plans for pouring concrete on the Discovery s deck a supplier on the Nebraska side of the river had to be used briefly the final segment of the deck was poured in August. At that point, crews began stripping the wooden forms from the deck and installing the bridge s 50-foot spires, which had started arriving around that time in the form of five-foot precast sections. All we do is set one down on top of the other, said Bob Wiebelhaus, a project manager HISTORY, Page 8B please Congratulations on the Discovery Bridge ... The bridge that leads to Linda s Angel Crossing - Morgen Square on Broadway D I S C O V E R Y ~ Delightful fashions for ladies & children ~ Individual service ~ Smiles everywhere ~ Children count, too ~ Over the top! ~ Variety ~ Every customer counts ~ Reaching out for your business ~ You count! Great Plains Therapy is a leading provider of preventative, rehabilitative, and performance enhancing programs with services that focus on individualized care and patient education. We accept most insurance and remind you that it is your legal right to choose your provider. Linda s Angel Crossing 1101 Broadway, Morgen Square 665-0080 8th & Summit, Yankton, SD 605-665-3861 1407 E. Cherry, Vermillion 605-624-7246 Ruth Scott, PT/Owner Sarah Roob, PT Nancy Weber, PT Pat Hauer, PT Will You Be Spotted Crossing The Discovery Bridge? Go To spotted.yankton.net t After the October 11th Dedication Ceremony To See If You Were Spotted!!
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