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.

Recent sightings on the Willamette River Bridge project

From ODOT-

Our contracting team regularly takes amazing photos of the work under way. This means I get to share with you some of these one-of-a-kind views. Enjoy!

Here, a worker is finishing the surface of the new southbound bridge arch.

The size of this worker standing next to the temporary fish ladder on the south bank of the Willamette River illustrates how large it actually is. We’re also excited to say we’ve already seen fish using the ladder.

We recently told you about the extensive reuse and recycling of demolition waste that our crews do. In this picture, you can see just a small portion of the material that they work with.

Among the recycled materials is this reinforcing steel, which gave the temporary detour bridge its strength. The new southbound bridge is at left.

Above, you can get some idea of how large the bridge beams are from the demolished temporary detour bridge! Varying in length from 80 feet to 115 feet, each beam requires its own truck and dolly trailer to be hauled away from the site for reuse or demolition.

Here’s another shot of beams from the temporary detour bridge being prepared for transport. While our worker is safely protected from falling into the rushing waters below, this job is definitely not for the faint of heart!

 

Here we go again!

From ODOT-

Now that all Interstate 5 traffic is crossing the Willamette River on a new bridge, our focus has shifted to tearing down the temporary detour bridge, with Staton Companies of Eugene playing the starring role.



Much of the material from the temporary detour bridge will be recycled or reused in other projects. This includes more than 300 girders—some of reinforced concrete and some of steel. Crews will move the girders to nearby storage yards until they are needed to build other bridges. Watch for lots of trucks entering and leaving the site as we move the girders.



We will demolish the bridge piers once the deck and girders are gone. Workers will cut the piers off flat at the river bottom and lift them out of the water.



We’ll also start demolishing the temporary Canoe Canal Bridge, north of the Willamette River Bridge. However, we’ll keep a portion of it up until mid-2012 to provide access to other parts of the construction project.



We expect the majority of the demolition to be complete by early 2012. We’ll then build the piers for the new northbound bridge, starting with cofferdams at each pier location to facilitate construction under water.



As we move forward, we’ll explain these steps in more detail and post more one-of-a-kind pictures here on our blog.