To spectators, the 10-hour lift of a 528-ft-wide, 2,650-ton steel-truss-span assembly that is part of the Huey P. Long Bridge widening project may have seemed like watching paint dry, says John Brestin, project manager for consulting engineer HNTB Corp., Kansas City. “But when you think about the fact this was three years in planning—from concept to design to getting it up—it was more like the blink of an eye.”
And after the successful June 19 lift, HNTB and the contractor, MTI, say they expect subsequent lifts will be several hours faster when the next span, over the Mississippi River’s main navigation channel, is lifted into place in November.