It takes more than electricity to light a bridge. That’s something Crafton Tull engineers learned firsthand when they were tasked with helping to illuminate the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project involved creativity, real-world testing, and collaboration to produce a solution for lighting bridge without compromising its strength.

Paul Zimmerman, Vice President of the Koontz Electric Co. High Voltage Division, said when Koontz was awarded this project, they knew the biggest challenge was how to attach items to the bridge without drilling, tapping or welding. That’s when Koontz reached out to Crafton Tull’s Hot Springs office, which was then B&F Engineering. 

Dustin Ward, P.E., S.E., a Vice President in Crafton Tull's Structural Engineering division, said affixing anything to a bridge must be done with extreme caution. Some bridges can have mechanical attachments, such as welded studs or bolted plates, but the Hoan bridge contains components that are considered “nonredundant steel tension members” (previously called “fracture-critical”), which meant it wasn’t that simple.