Ready to stand on our own two arches

From ODOT- This week marks the beginning of the end for completing the reinforced concrete arches that will support the southbound Interstate 5 bridge deck.

Over the past few weeks, this project blog has included details on building the deck arches.

The final step is a precise process to pour the final link at the top of each arch to complete its graceful curve. This will ensure that the bridge arches meet the designed strength requirements while raising them just high enough to remove the supporting falsework that was used to create them.

The construction team will start by placing big hydraulic jacks in the opening at the center of the northernmost set of arches. Crews will then slowly jack the arches up and apart about six inches and then pour the last of the concrete to finish each arch. Once the concrete has cured, the construction falsework will be removed and the arches will stand without their wooden "arch supports."

We'll repeat the process on the second set of arches in January. Construction will then focus on the new bridge deck.

While you won't actually notice the arches moving as they are slowly jacked apart over the course of several days, they will be. We'll post close-up photos of this careful and challenging work here for you to see.