Noisy Late-Night Construction In Milwaukee Draws Complaints

Some Milwaukee officials say the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is allowing noisy construction work in the middle of the night on the Interstate 794 Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee, and are asking that it be halted.

Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents the area, said many constituents have complained this week about the DOT’s work.

“Basically they’re demolishing the deck,” said Bauman. “That involves the use of huge backhoes with very large and powerful battering rams. The battering rams hitting the concrete strikes the steel superstructure, creating a resonance in the neighborhood that sounds like artillery shells falling.”

Bauman said Milwaukee has a night-time noise ordinance, and no variance has been granted for the Hoan Bridge work. Bauman says the late-night noise is another example of the state sticking it to Milwaukee, and he wants Gov. Scott Walker to take notice.

DOT project manager Carolyn Gellings blames the noise on unanticipated bonding between the bridge’s steel and concrete: “Basically, instead of just being able to lift the slabs off and put them in a truck and haul it away, it required the use of some breaking equipment to kind of loosen it up before they were able to pull it off the steel.”

Gellings said Friday night should be the last night of the very noisy work. She also said the DOT does have the right to do construction and maintenance on its highways at night, and will sometimes exceed local noise limits.

Bauman called that policy “arrogance.”