Motorists and nearby residents should be aware of soil boring activity occurring at the Hwy 243/Osceola Bridge.
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Mon, Aug. 7, crews will conduct soiling testing in the river beneath the bridge. Soil boring involves drilling a hole in the ground to collect samples of soil and bedrock. The samples are then used to ensure the surface is suitable for various bridge designs to be considered.
The bridge will remain open during the work. However, crews will also be taking ground samples near the Osceola Landing National Park and on both sides of the bridge near the Minnesota and Wisconsin roadway approaches. The work will primarily be done under traffic with occasional use of flaggers to direct traffic during the approach work. The work is expected to wrap up by mid-September, weather permitting.
More about this project
The Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation have been in the process of designing and reconstructing the bridge, built in 1953, since 2021. The purpose of this project work is to maintain a reliable highway connection over the St. Croix River for Hwy 243 between Washington/Chisago counties in Minnesota and the Village of Osceola and Polk County in Wisconsin. The project team is working with federal, state and local interests to minimize reconstruction impacts to the St Croix River and other natural resources in the area. Construction is currently expected to begin in 2026.
For more information, visit the Hwy 243 Osceola Bridge project webpage.
Comments
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2 responses to “Osceola Bridge soil testing to start August 7”
The impact to the St.Croix River down there is very important but more focus and work should be done on the Apple River – major point of pollution from agriculture!
It’s all in the same watershed!!!
I’ll assume that the NPS, WDNR, MDNR, MPCA, and USFWS have all been consulted, a mussel survey has been done in the bridge impact zone, any mussels found there have been moved to a safe place out of that zone, and a sediment control plan will be implemented prior to the start of the substrate borings.