'Really fancy Christmas lights': Exclusive look at the lighting of the other side of Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- You've probably seen a lot of the work on and around and above the Hoan Bridge the last couple of weeks as crews work to light the "other" side of the Hoan.
"They're really fancy Christmas lights," said general contractor Brad Atkinson of Rogue Electrical Consulting. Atkinson is in charge of the project, sub-contracting locally to Next Electric.
Affixing those "Christmas lights" to the Hoan Bridge took a creative solution after some stipulations from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
"They want us to put lights on the bridge, but you can't weld to the bridge," Atkinson said. "You can't shoot a stud in it. You can't clamp it, and you can't band it. How we gonna put 'em up? Magnets! It's the only way. So, that's what we did."
Atkinson's team uses a template to space the magnets 18 inches apart and then the crews just clip them in. It's a simple explanation but not a simple job.
"The heights alone gets most people." said Atkinson.
"You have complications with man lifts, and wind, and lane closures and all kinds of stuff like that," he continued.
The work was just completed and now moves to the testing phase.
"This is a huge milestone for us," said Light the Hoan Executive Director Erika Smith. "You're able to see it from a completely different angle across the community. We'll be able to see it from the north shore. As far as Veteran's Park, McKinley. I was just walking on the south shore checking out the new beach and you'll be able to see it from there."
The lakeside, like the west side and all the maintenance, is still privately funded. No taxpayer dollars are used. It's all sponsorships and donations, big and small.
We've seen the Hoan light up for the Brewers and Bucks, for firefighter memorials and holidays, but anyone can get it lit up for almost anything. They even do gender reveals (which start at about a $1,000 donation).
"There's a lot of really unique things that you can do," Smith said. "And now, by adding these lights to the other side, we have even more opportunity."
Atkinson has worked on giant bridges all over the country and says this one means something special to him.
"It's unique because, I don't know, this city seems to mean a lot more to the people that live here than most," he said.
Smith expects to announce the official unveiling of the new lights very soon.