Date:
Friday, June 22, 2007
Contact:
Contact: Claudia Cornish, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Communications Manager, (253) 534-4646
GIG HARBOR – Starting this week, crews working for design-builder Tacoma Narrows Constructors (TNC) will begin a two-week process of removing the two construction tower cranes sitting on top of the new bridge’s east and west towers. With new bridge construction nearing completion, the tower cranes are no longer necessary for delivering supplies and equipment to crews.
To get the job done, TNC subcontractor Campbell Crane and Rigging Service will mobilize a Demag 308-ton removal crane to remove the existing tower cranes. The removal crane will arrive at the bridge early next week, and its boom will be assembled on-site. The boom of the crane’s 400-foot vertical reach will have an 85-foot working radius.
Crews will take down the west tower crane first. It will be dismantled in eight separate pieces, with each piece being attached to and supported by the removal crane. Once all pieces of the west tower crane are down, the removal crane will be relocated to the east side where the process will be repeated.
As with the other more visible construction activities on this project, WSDOT encourages SR 16 motorists crossing the existing bridge to consider safety first and to focus on the road. People wanting to watch the tower cranes come down are asked to do so from Narrows Park, the official bridge viewing site. Directions to the park can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr16narrowsbridge/misc/newpark/.
In addition to removing the tower cranes, crews will also continue roadway construction on both sides of the bridge. Lane and ramp closures will occur throughout next week as follows, weather permitting:
Monday, June 25
Closures needed while crews install electrical hardware
• 9 a.m. – closing eastbound SR 16 exit to Jackson Avenue around-the-clock until 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 26
• 7 p.m. – closing eastbound SR 16 left lane from 36th Street NW to the toll plaza, until 5 a.m. Tuesday, June 26.
Wednesday, June 27 through Saturday, June 30
Closures needed to install roadway signs
• Closing one eastbound and one westbound lane of SR 16 through the project limits. Toll signage will be installed as far west as Gorst. The eastbound closure begins at 7 p.m. and ends each following morning at 5 a.m.; the westbound closure begins at 9 p.m. and ends each following morning at 7 a.m.
For more information on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge project, please visit tacomanarrowsbridge.com or http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr16narrowsbridge/
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