It’s baaaaack. After a couple of months of making its way down the eastbound incline, the orange movable scaffolding system (MSS) reached the west low-level approach on-ramp and has begun constructing the approach.
One aspect of constructing the eastbound incline is a whole lot easier now than when the orange MSS built the westbound decline: concrete pours. During the building of the westbound decline, concrete trucks used to pull up, pour their load into a reservoir at ground level, then a pump the size of a small van would force concrete into a hose that extended 100-plus feet into the air. On the orange MSS, workers guided the towering hose that continuously streamed concrete into the proper locations. To get a sense for how high the hose had to rise, check out the scaffolding on the north side of the westbound decline, then add another 30 feet.
For the eastbound incline, concrete pours are less complicated because the westbound decline now exists. Only 12 feet separate the two approaches, and – if you look at the gap between the edge of the orange MSS and the westbound decline – a person can easily step across it. While concrete reservoirs, pumps, and hoses are still part of the process, the physical apparatus to perform the pours is much simpler due to the short distance between the westbound decline and the MSS.
In the coming months, if you drive along Ocean Boulevard, you will see the orange MSS make its way up toward the main span. Current plans have the orange MSS completing the eastbound incline by the end of the year.
