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WANSHIP — If you're planning to drive on I-80 in Summit County in the next day, you should know that it's closed for the next 24 hours. UDOT just closed I-80 eastbound. Crews will work on putting in a new bridge at the Wanship Interchange, and that means detours.
Crews began the slow process late in the afternoon, demolishing the old bridge to make way for a new one that'll last 60 to 70 years. Once that's done, they'll slide the new one over. That's a long, slow process that will likely take hours.
This is a also milestone for UDOT. The bridge is the 40th that UDOT is replacing using what's called the [Crews put in a new bridge on the other side of I-80 last week. UDOT says about 14 thousand cars travel this part of I-80 every day. Closing the interstate for only 24 hours works out better for everyone. "I think for safety purposes, it's nice to have that done and know we're not going to have any major problems or anything," said Wanship resident Carolyn Hollingshead. "Plus, I'm excited about the technology and looking at that."
Saturday, a bridge engineer from Iowa came to see it for himself.
"We're implementing a new policy right now and we're trying to get to the point where we can do several each year," said Norman McDonald of the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Part of the innovation is quite simple too. Crews use Teflon and ordinary dish washing soap to push the new bridge into place. For people like Vicki Hays, it's something worth watching.
"For this little town, it's kind of a big deal," Hays said. "We had a stop light for two months and we haven't had a stop light since we moved here ever."
The new bridge is also wider to accommodate future growth and if SR-32 needs to be widened.
I-80 Eastbound could open up sooner, if the bridge move gets done before that. Drivers are asked to use I-84 through Ogden as an alternate route during this process. Crews will be using Teflon and dish soap to help with the move.](http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=16771148accelerated bridge construction technique. That means crews built the new bridge off to the side so it would not impact any traffic. UDOT lead the nation in this process - and departments of transportation from all over the world have come to watch and learn how crews here do it.
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