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May 10, 2008 7:01 pm US/Central
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Hundreds Tour To See I-35W Bridge Progress
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
For the past 28 Saturday mornings, a crowd of people have gathered in the parking lot next to Grandma's. On the cold days, it can be a dozen. In nice weather, they see more than 200 line up for a personal tour of the Interstate 35W bridge site by one of project leaders.
Peter Sanderson, the project manager for Flatiron-Manson Joint Venture takes all kinds of questions.
Do you work seven days a week? "We're working seven days and two 12-hour shifts," he answered.
How is your safety record? "We've had 11 incidents. No lost time," he said, though these include office injuries like paper cuts.
Why is the huge crane on a barge in the river named Big Ben?
"It's after my grandson, to tell you the truth," he replied.
Sanderson showed the crowd laminated pictures of the bridge before they headed to a closed-off portion of the freeway just south of the bridge. There, people can see casting beds used to pour concrete for the bridge's main span.
Retired MnDOT engineer Donald Heinrich has only missed a handful of Saturdays. He even showed up when it was 20 below zero.
"It's good exercise. These are nice people," said Heinrich. "And we see the progress going. Every week there's something different."
The concrete segments will be brought close to a river, where a barge will take them into the water. Later in May, crane operators will set the pieces in place to close the gap over the water between the two already finished piers.
Crews can already stand on the top of the piers, where the roadway has been laid down. The I-35W freeway will be re-graded 11 feet down to get rid of blind spots. Crews just finished a tunnel that could eventually be used for a future bike and pedestrian path.
Sanderson said the most common questions are about safety.
"How we're gaining time here is by lots of resources. Normally if you're building a bridge such as this, you'd show up with probably a quarter of the equipment and a quarter of the materials. We're working everywhere that we can work at the same time with an awful lot of people," explained Sanderson.
The bridge was expected to open on December 24, 2008, but Sanderson said they are about three months ahead of schedule.
There's a financial incentive to finish early, too: $200,000 for each day before December 24, with a limit of 100 days. The contractors will receive an extra $20 million if they finish by September 15. Sanderson said that's the date his crews are shooting for.
A MnDOT spokesman said they are happy with the progress but that it's too early to give a specific date for it finish. You never know what could happen with delays, such as equipment problems or weather. In fact, the rain has slowed them down a bit in recent weeks.
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