Concrete segments to go up on new I-35W bridge

Steel from the I-35W bridge
Steel from the I-35W bridge is arranged and numbered near the site of the collapse.
MPR Photo/ Ross Holtan

The new Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River will start looking a little more like a bridge over the next several weeks.

Workers are at the site of the new bridge Sunday. They are beginning to lift some concrete parts of the main bridge span into place. The work was supposed to start Sunday morning, but was pushed back to the afternoon.

Two 198-ton concrete segments are being attached to the main piers on the downtown side of the bridge, and eventually, those segments will be attached to 118 others as the bridge is built piece by piece.

Bent I-35W gusset plate
This photo from June 12, 2003, shows a bent gusset plate on the I-35W bridge that is visible to the eye.
Photo courtesy of NTSB

The old bridge spanning the river collapsed on August 1, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others.

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