Moving large bridge beams is impressive to watch

From ODOT-

Just what are the steps in removing the large beams that support the temporary I-5 Willamette River Bridge and hauling them off to storage? The photos below show how it’s done.

In this picture, we see crews removing the beams that cross the railroad tracks on the south side of the Willamette River. Crews will remove more than 300 beams from the temporary bridge.

Moving the beams requires multiple cranes and other equipment. The beam launcher (at right) placed between the piers supports the beams so they can be moved off the piers and onto the deck.

Here’s a close-up of a beam being moved using the launcher.

Next, crews stack the beams on the bridge deck.

Then, they load the beams onto trucks and haul them offsite for reuse or recycling. Each beam is so large that it takes its own truck. Beams vary in length from 80 feet to 115 feet.

In all, crews will remove 326 beams from the temporary bridge to be reused on other projects or recycled into useful construction materials.