Photo Credit: Port of Long Beach
Unless you were out on the streets of downtown Long Beach in the early morning hours a few nights ago, you missed the arrival of the final structural steel components of the main span. In the photo above, one of the end girders was driven by City Hall and the Port of Long Beach Administration Building on Ocean Boulevard on its way to the east tower. There is one end girder per tower, which is fabricated and shipped in three sections due to their size and weight. Together, they represent the final pieces of structural steel that will attach the main span to the approach structures.
Given their size, bulkiness and weight, these end girders travelled a very specific path of highways and roads from the plant where they were fabricated near Phoenix to each tower. The southern section pictured above weighs more than 206,000 pounds alone. To avoid tying up traffic, these pieces were transported during specific times of day, too.
The Press-Telegram ran a great article on the arrival of the first shipment of end girders on November 21. To read the full story, click here.
In the coming months, these pieces will be lifted into place to complete the connection of the main span to the end bents (i.e., top of the approach structures). Around the same time, the main span segments will be connected in the middle over the channel. Soon after that, it will be possible to walk across the bridge.
