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Team coverageIs the second time the charm for the Highland bridge deck? Crews are once again moving the 3 million-pound bridge into place, but what do the delays mean for Fourth of July roads?
So far, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) says everything is looking good. The warped support beams that stopped last week's move have been replaced, and the new ones are holding up.
Today, the big bridge move has an audience. Onlookers are set up with snacks, watching what they say is history in the making.
"It's been going along great," spectator Mary Lynne Edison said. "The excitement of this, something that has not been attempted anywhere else."
Virgil Blackson is 75 years old and can't get enough. He even brought the lawn chair to sit and watch. "I'm pretty much planning to stay until I have to go get something to eat, then I'll come back," he said.
Spectator Delores Murdock said, "Oh, I just love it! I just think it's just a miracle."
But on Friday, the attention will shift a block east to Fourth of July fireworks. How will UDOT deal with that traffic when westbound I-80 closed?
"Across the state, we're going to try to pull back wherever we can," said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton.
Easton says UDOT won't be moving any bridges on the holiday in order to keep 1300 East open. But he says crews could move the next bridge from the bridge farm as early as July 5.
"We really have a short season for UDOT to get our work done, and, unfortunately, it's the same season when people want to be driving around the state," Easton said.
Heading west, there's more construction. Lane shifts begin today on Redwood Road from Bangerter Highway to Saratoga Springs. Crews there are widening the two-lane road to five lanes. "A lot of people use that road to get to Salt Lake County, and it's a traffic jam every morning," Easton said.
Chrissy Nielson lives just off Redwood Road and says she hasn't been bothered by the construction. Either that, or she's just gotten used to it. "[It's] everywhere all the time," she said.
Back to the bridge. The first try to move it 10 days ago was especially challenging. Before putting it into place, engineers spotted a buckled support I-beam. Those beams are used to carry the bridge.
Crews stopped, and a day later moved the bridge back to the bridge farm at 1300 East to replace the beams.
A Lindon company made the new red beams for a project in Nevada but decided instead to help out UDOT and supply the beams for the "Innovate I-80" project.
UDOT says crews will begin lowering the bridge onto the supports at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
You can get traffic updates throughout the evening and tomorrow on KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
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