TRAFFIC STILLED ON HOLTON SPAN

Police squads now block access to the Holton Viaduct and its companion Holton Marsupial Bridge and efforts underway to prevent catastrophe include the use of the construction crane mounted on the imperiled barges that nearly block the entire width of the swollen Milwaukee River.
At midnight the crane could be seen to hoist several containers to the shore, where the dock wall is failing at the Edge condominium project. The containers appear to be consistent with those used to secure gases used in construction.
Next, a gang box hoisted workers onto the barge. They are about their business at this time. "If she goes, it's going to be bad," a man wearing a reflective vest spoke into his cellular telephone at the east end of the Marsupial Bridge. It appeared he was connected with the construction of the riverfront high rise.
The work is taking place while torrents of rain are falling locally, and while runoff from the massive storm is yet to reach its maximum, heightening the immediacy of the task and the urgency of the situation. It could not be ascertained what steps have been taken at this time to secure the barges to each other and to the deteriorating dock wall. The Coast Guard is on the scene. Its vessel is docked at the Lakefront Brewery where 3 hours ago party revelers were enjoying cigars under the sheltering expanse of the Holton Viaduct, a muscular survivor of the Socialist era, dedicated in 1926 by the daughter of Mayor Daniel Webster Hoan.