RIDOTSurvey.com Reconstruction Coverage

Bridge Disassembly

This is the beginning of the end for this old bridge. Ernie has started to expose the end of the beams. We need this to verify that there are no surprises when the cranes get here. The giant mass of concrete you see to the right of Ernie is one of the beams, encased in concrete, as are they all. He has to expose the beam, the beam seat and the masonary plate to make sure they are not fastened together.

	On staging with a chipping hammer and a respirator isn't fun even on a nice day. Today was warm.
There has to be a flat spot where we can put the jack. We will lift this end of the beam, testing to be sure the crane will lift it.
	This shows the old seats pretty well. The big hoop was holding the masonary plate to the abutment. Above is the masssive sole plate. The beam sits on top.
We'll cut off the plate and hoop and the two reinforcing rods below, then we'll put a small jack where the rods were and try to lift this beam.