A rickety bridge in Portland is finally being replaced with some engineering magic.
The Sellwood Bridge in Portland, WA has been in severe need of fixing for a while now. As Noah Brand says, “Its structural safety rating, out of a possible 100, is 2. Driving across it feels like playing Russian Roulette.”
The problem? The bridge had to be moved 66 feet in one direction for them to divert traffic to a detour while they replace the old one.
Noah said, “Everyone knows it’s needed repair or replacement for years, but it’s been tied up in a lot of bullshit property wrangling. Now finally they’re replacing it, and one of the first steps is that rather awesome bit of engineering wizardry.”
ODOT released a timelapse video to KGW.com (News Channel 8) of Portland to show how the construction crew pulled it off.