In July of 1994, Lunda Construction Company was awarded this project by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Lunda committed to opening the bridge to full vehicular traffic within 383 calendar days. The maximum calendar days allowable by the specifications was 458. Lunda began work on the project on the required start date of August 15, 1994 and opened the bridge to traffic less than 1 year later, 363 actual calendar days.

The 2,380 feet long by 80 feet wide bridge consisted of a 9-span steel girder and concrete deck on eight hammerhead piers. The piers consisted of 12" diameter cast-in-place concrete piling, concrete seals, two concrete stem pours, and concrete hammerhead caps. The piers ranged in height from 58.5 feet to 90.5 feet. The structural steel weighed in at over 10 million pounds and consisted of seven lines of girders with a standard depth of 10 feet and a maximum depth of just over 17 feet at the haunched sections located at the two river channel piers.

To construct a bridge of this type and size in a year, would be considered quite an accomplishment under ideal circumstances. The circumstances for this project were far from ideal which made the feat that much more challenging. This project encountered obstacles unlike any other project constructed by Lunda. They included: a) Higher than expected water elevations; b) Investigation for and relocation of an endangered species of zebra mussel; c) All construction work required for the 80 foot wide bridge had to be accomplished in the less than 95 foot width between the existing bridges; d) Accelerated fabrication and delivery of structural steel members; e) Extremely harsh winter working conditions of high wind, frigid temperatures, and early daily snowfalls during the 1994-1995 winter; and f) High traffic volumes.