The first shaft for the viaduct path is under construction.

From ODOT-  By early 2014, improvements to the park paths near the new Willamette River Bridges will be complete.  The most significant change, a new viaduct path on the south bank of the Willamette River, will replace the current path that connects to the south side of Franklin Boulevard, east of the bridges.



Bridge beams reused from the Interstate 5 detour bridge will provide a structure for the realigned path.  The beams will be supported by 14 individual bridge columns spaced along the riverbank.  Rebar and concrete will fill drilled shafts to a depth of at least 10 feet into the bedrock.



We've recently taken the first step in constructing the viaduct, by drilling a shaft beneath the new northbound bridge.  This had to occur now, because the drilling equipment is too tall to fit under the new northbound bridge once it is built.  This may be the only work we do on the viaduct path until this fall.

As you can see, the drill is taller than the new southbound bridge and would not have fit under the soon-to-be-built northbound freeway bridge.

Here, workers line up equipment to place the steel retainer ring, which will prevent dirt and rock from falling back into the drilled shaft.

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.