Archive for June 15th, 2011

93 Bridge Replacement

Last weekend our house was filled with deafening noise day and night as the I93 bridges in front were replaced. All 14 of the I93 overpasses in Medford are being replaced on weekends this summer using the latest construction techniques to entirely replace a bridge over just a weekend instead of years. I rushed home on friday to beat the rotary closing to traffic at 6pm, and had front-row views of the impressive demolition and construction work all weekend. Giant jackhammers pummeled the bridges all night Friday, while the huge beam-eating machine literally shook the entire house for hours. 16-wheeled cranes moved in on Saturday to lift the precast sections of bridge. Amazingly, exactly 24 hours after the concrete was first broken, the last piece was in place. Sunday quieted down for gap filling concrete and line painting, and everything reopened for the Monday morning commute.

I made a long video of the process for anyone geeky enough to watch, including time lapse from 5,000 photos shot from my bedroom window. Be sure to crank up the sound to simulate what we had to sleep through!

Update: You can watch video captured from their professional photographer here and several photo galleries on his website.