Photo by Kayla Camenzind Construction workers cut the steel bridge into 18-foot pieces before hauling it away to the steel mill.
The old bridge was built in 1929 and was 22-feet wide, not large enough to accommodate modern vehicles. While some local residents voiced desires to keep the bridge as a walking passage, upkeep and maintenance on it would have been too costly for the Department of Transportation.
The 220,000 ton bridge was lifted by cranes on both sides and shifted to sit on one bank while workers used magnesium to cut the steel into 18ft pieces. The steel is now being loaded onto flat-beds and hauled away to the steel mill.
The project is currently on-schedule and will finish by the end of the summer. The new bridge has 12-foot lanes and 6-foot shoulders, totaling a width of 36 feet.