Date:
Friday, October 27, 2006
Contact:
Claudia Cornish, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Communications Manager, (253) 534-4646
TACOMA – Yesterday, design-builder Tacoma Narrows Constructors lifted the last of 15 deck sections off the TEAL, a semi-submersible ship that delivered the second of three shiploads of deck sections to the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Now that the TEAL has delivered its cargo, the ship will return to Tacoma's Commencement Bay this afternoon where crews will remove and store mooring equipment to use on the sister ship SWAN when it returns to Tacoma.
The SWAN is currently in South Korea, where it is being loaded with the final 15 deck sections for the new bridge deck. It is scheduled to arrive in Commencement Bay around Thanksgiving. During the month between the TEAL’s departure and the SWAN’s arrival, bridge crews will begin bolting and welding together the 31 deck sections that have already been lifted into place. To date, the deck sections have only been temporarily pinned together, allowing the new bridge’s main suspension cables to deflect closer to their final geometry with each deck lift. With two-thirds of the deck sections hanging in place, the cable geometry is near enough to its final profile to allow permanent bolting to begin.
Deck-lifting activities will continue through the end of December. In total, 46 deck sections will be used to assemble the new bridge deck. Each deck section on average weighs 450 tons, and measures 120 feet long, 78 feet wide and 30 feet deep.
For more information on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge project, visit www.tacomanarrowsbridge.com.
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