At the point where the girder pieces meet over the temporary shoring tower, a worker directs a crane operator below as they position the pre-cast concrete bridge deck panels on the girders.
Crews pave to the west of the southbound exit ramp to S. 320th. We're preparing to shift traffic back to the west now that the retaining walls adjacent to this area are complete.
Crews pumping concrete into the wall panel forms for the retaining wall on the left side of the S. 320th exit ramp. The truck is sitting in the future location of a detention pond.
Crews are placing pre-cast concrete panels on top of the girders to form the first layer of the bridge deck. Using pre-cast panels on the first layer will help us complete the bridge much more quickly than if we used the standard method of pouring the concrete in place.
The crew member on the left is working on the drainage system for the new bridge, while the worker in the lift installs lights underneath the bridge.
Here a worker lifts wall forms into place for the permanent retaining wall to the left of the southbound I-5 exit ramp to S. 320th. You can see photos of the temporary shoring wall and the foundation forms for the permanent wall below.
To the right of the southbound I-5 exit to S. 320th crews are grading the ground in preparation to shift the exit ramp toward the right. The ramp was shifted left while we built the retaining wall you see here.
A view of the S. 317th bridge taking shape, as seen from the S. 320th bridge.
Construction on Sound Transit's new Federal Way Transit Center continues. Crews are building the third of five levels on the parking garage this month, as well as constructing water detention and filtration vaults.
Crews have formed the foundation for the permanent wall along the east side of the southbound exit ramp to S. 320th. The temporary shoring wall is to the left, and beyond that (not pictured) is the exit ramp.
Here's a view of the girders Friday morning, looking northeast. The southbound exit ramp to S. 320th - below the girders - is open to traffic.
From the west abutment looking east over the top of the girders on Friday morning. Crews have already begun placing panels on top of the girders. If you look between the girders you can see the southbound exit ramp to S. 320th below.
Workers standing at the west bridge abutment look on as a crane lowers one of the girders onto the bridge supports Thursday night.
Looking north, the girders stretch over the southbound exit ramp to S. 320th. You can see part of the temporary shoring tower on the right.
A view from the west bridge abutment as a crane positions one of the girders over the bridge supports.
A crane that will lift the 100-ton girders onto the bridge supports, parked next to the west bridge abutment on Thursday afternoon.
The long bridge girders arriving at the project site Thursday afternoon. Each of the four bridge girders is 128 feet long, and each girder is being delivered in two pieces because they are too long to transport and lift into place in one piece.
Crews do some final prep work on the bridge supports Thursday, before the girder setting Thursday night.
The type of girders we're using on the S. 317th bridge are concrete trapezoidal tub girders - they are pre-cast concrete girders shaped like a bathtub. This is a short piece of girder - the long girders will be delivered to the job site on Thursday.
The bridge girders have conduits (tubes) running through them - to strengthen the girders when bridge construction is nearly complete, crews run steel cable through these conduits, pull the cable taut, and grout it in place.
Yet another - closer - view of the temporary shoring tower that will support the bridge girders.
Another view of the temporary shoring tower that will support the bridge girders between the abutments. We'll close the southbound exit to S. 320th (where the green truck is traveling) when we set the girders Thursday night. You can see the temporary roadway beyond the median abutment.
Crew members appear tiny standing on a shoring tower between the bridge abutments for the new S. 317th Street bridge on Friday, February 4. In one week the bridge girders will be resting here.
On the left side of this photo is a temporary shoring wall to support the soil next to the southbound I-5 exit to S. 320th Street while the permanent concrete wall is being built. A detention pond will be built in the area shown.
This is a concrete drainage gutter along the retaining wall south of the west abutment for the S. 317th Street bridge. You can see a drainage pipe at the base of the abutment, on the left side of this photo.
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