The steel was flying Wednesday at the Sewalls Falls Bridge project, as long as “flying” means moving slowly while a few feet above the ground.
When you’re dealing with a 28,000-pound steel girder that is as long as a seven-story building laid on its side, however, such caution is the right way to proceed, even if “flying” is the usual construction-site terminology.
Six giant I-beam girders were installed Wednesday on the eastern side of the Merrimack River, linking a new abutment with concrete piers built 125 feet off shore. Each was lifted by a crane capable of raising 200 tons, from Moore’s Crane Rental of Dover, and then cautiously shifted off the ground.
Not everything in the process was cautious, however. Once the girders were being held in place, the installation of drift pins, which ensure precise alignment of holes before bolts are installed with an electric gun, required a worker to wail away repeatedly with a sledgehammer.
Concord contractors E.D. Swett are installing five parallel sets of girders, on top of which a deck and roadway will be built. The pier on the western side of the river is still being built, so those girders will be placed later.
“It’s starting to look like a bridge,” said Ed Roberge, Concord city engineer, of the $11 million project, which replaced a dilapidated bridge sufficient for one lane of traffic before it closed down entirely.
The bridge, which connects Sewalls Fall Road with Mountain Road or Route 132, is the only crossing of the Merrimack River between Interstate 93 in the center of Concord and Holt Road bridge just north of the city.
The new bridge is on schedule to open by Nov. 1.
“The weather has been great,” said Roberge.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313, or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
