Construction crews have completed a record-breaking bridge slide over the Ohio River.
At nearly a half-mile in length and weighing in at more than 30 million pounds, the Milton-Madison bridge is a new steel truss bridge that replaces a span originally built in 1929.
It is now the largest bridge in North America (perhaps the world) to be slid laterally into place.
Walsh Construction, the company building the new $131 million bridge, slid the bridge 55 feet laterally from temporary piers into place over April 9 and 10 last week. The task likely could have been completed on April 9 but high winds on the river caused a halt in work.
The workers completed the task by placing polished steel plates on top of the permanent piers to create a slippery surface. They then pulled the bridge from the temporary piers using steel cables and eight computer-controlled hydraulic jacks.
In total, workers slid the bridge for 12 1/2 hours.
