New Hastings bridge lifted into place

Hastings bridge
Pieces of the new Highway 61 bridge float in the Mississippi River at Hastings, Minn. on Saturday, September 8, 2012.
MPR Photo/Bill Catlin

Crews have been out all night slowly jacking up a huge slab of concrete and steel into its place as the main span of the new Highway 61 bridge in Hastings.

Over the weekend, the nearly 7 million ton bridge slowly made its way down the Mississippi River, pushed by a multi-barge flotilla, to where it was out in place for the lift.

The mayor of Hastings, Paul Hicks, and hundreds of townspeople have been watching the construction of the bridge. Hicks was there overnight and talked to Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about what he saw.

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