This week many of the things we discussed last week are continuing to roll along. Curbing was poured early this week in the area near Main and Fourth (south of Diamond Art Jewelers), and the “flatwork” (sidewalk and imprinting work) is underway in this last half of the week in that same area and also on North Main in front of Burden’s and stretching up toward America’s Mattress.
On the block between Second and Third, excavators are busy removing the last of the old sidewalk, and tackling the grading to prepare for the replacement of that sidewalk in the next few weeks. The vault that needed the wall replaced prior to finish is complete and closed with a new lid, and a temporary sidewalk is set and runs from the south end of the block near Sunflower Flats, so all businesses on that block are accessible from the corner of Third and Main.
The bridge work is also going smoothly. In the next two weeks, the girders will be brought in and placed, starting with the center span on Tuesday, February 6th, and then the end spans the following week, Monday and Tuesday, February 12th and 13th. There are eight girders in each of the spans, and bringing them in and placing them with the large crane will take most of the day. Traffic over the bridge will be closed intermittently as flaggers will stop traffic as a truck brings in the girder, and then the crane removes it and sets it down in to place. Flaggers will then reopen the bridge, clear out traffic and radio in the next truck. Expect intermittent long delays on the bridge between 8am and 4pm on Tuesday, 2/6, Monday, 2/12, and Tuesday, 2/13. This will be an uncomfortable, frustrating few days of trying to move through town, so please plan ahead if possible, and keep in mind it will all be over soon.
Below I’ve included some photos from the progress in front of Pacific Restaurant this week, and a few photos I took last spring from my kayak under the northbound bridge (that we are currently using) while it was under construction.
Be safe out there!!