All the original bridges are gone

From ODOT-

We look forward to celebrating major milestones on the Interstate 5 Willamette River Bridge project. Our most recent accomplishment was removing the last remnants of the old bridges.

Demolition began in 2009 when we removed the original Interstate 5 bridge. We separated the material, recycled the steel rebar and crushed and reused the concrete for fill to raise the ground level, form an embankment and groom other empty spaces in preparation for building the new arch bridges.

When we demolished the temporary detour bridge last winter, we saved its beams for other projects throughout Oregon. We’re reusing some of those beams to build the new viaduct path on the south bank near the new Willamette River bridges.

The last remnant we removed was a section of the Canoe Canal detour bridge, which we left in place until now to help us install the beams for the new northbound Canoe Canal Bridge.

The remaining portion of the Canoe Canal detour bridge just east of the new bridge (at left) was the last section of the old bridges to be removed.

To remove the last of the old bridges, crews first separated the remaining 21 beams from the support columns and hauled them to a storage yard, where they remain until they are needed on another project. Staton Construction demolished the remaining bridge columns and removed the last fill material. We will eventually plant native vegetation, restoring the area to a better condition than when the project started.

Now that the original and detour bridge are both gone, it’s time to focus on finishing the remaining structure being built across the river.