I've begun to spot the towers of the new Mississippi Bridge all over town, whether at the corner of Washington and 14th, or in the photo above, as I was driving eastbound down Natural Bridge Avenue south of Fairgrounds Park.
The two towers are proceeding rapidly, and I imagine next year they'll start to lay the bridge deck. While I'm not claiming this is the second coming of the hugely important Eads Bridge, I think it is notable that this is the first bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis since the 1960's, when the Poplar Street Bridge was built.
All this means permanent change for the empty land on both sides of the river, particularly the vast open spaces of the old National Stockyards. Will
Armour Meat Packing Plant soon face the fate of its two comrades?
I'm still in debate whether this should scare me or but me into awe. It's crazy how fast these supports have been going up. One day all I saw was barges trying to pour the cement under the river and now THIS! It's either very sketchy or very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe technology for this type of construction is quite advanced. The structures surrounding the towers, at the top, are designed to slowly creep up the towers as the concrete already poured continues to harden and cure. The Clark bridge in Alton was erected the same way. The cable-stay design was originated in Europe shortly after WWII. A German design, I believe. No need to worry, as I suspect that the rapid advancement of the towers is largely due to the warm winter we have had. A constructor would have to out of his mind not to take advantage of that.
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