I-90 Mississippi River Bridge
The I-90 Mississippi River Bridge, or the Dresbach Bridge, consists of a pair of parallel bridges that traverse the Mississippi River, connecting the La Crosse, Wisconsin area to Dresbach in rural Winona County, Minnesota. The current bridge was fully opened to traffic in October 2016, replacing a previous 1967 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 a redesigned 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. History. The previous bridge was a plate  girder bridge that opened on October 12, 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 1967 bridge and surrounding roadways: In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) 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, on August 1 , 2007 led to the effort by MnDOT to replace or modify "fracture-critical" bridges in the state. A concrete box girder bridge design was ultimately selected. The new bridge was constructed beginning January 2013, parallel to and upstream from the old 1967 plate girder bridge, which was demolished after it was closed April 2016.