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‘Big Pour’ Takes Place at POLB

[ October 16, 2015   //   ]

In a highly choreographed event involving a stream of concrete trucks, huge pumps and dozens of workers, contractors have completed a critical “pile cap” that allows crews to start erecting the first of two 515-foot-tall towers for the new bridge under construction at the Port of Long Beach.

Dubbed the “Big Pour”, work included about 3,200 cubic yards of concrete poured in and around 2,240 square feet of rebar forms to create a nearly two-story-tall pile cap. The cap serves as a base for a tower at the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project. The pile cap will enable the Port of Long Beach to begin constructing the first signature tower that will rise 515 feet and connect the cables to the road deck.

Visible for miles, the two towers on either side of the Port’s Back Channel will be the main features of the cable-stayed bridge, the first of its kind in California. The new bridge is scheduled for completion in 2018 and will one of the tallest of its kind in the US. When completed, the new bridge will include six traffic lanes and four emergency shoulders, a higher clearance to accommodate new generations of cargo ships, and the Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle and Pedestrian Path with scenic overlooks.

To watch construction live via webcams and for other details, visit www.newgdbridge.com.

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