Route 66 in the News
Bridge Coming Down
2008-01-24 07:54:41
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Demolition of the old Fifth Street bridge at the 215 Freeway should soon begin, and some people will get a chance to take a piece of it home—a souvenir of Route 66.
"We're going to chip up some pieces of the bridge, little chunks ... and put them in plastic cube boxes with a label on it," said Jane Dreher, spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments. "We're going to have some photographs of the old bridge when it was being constructed in 1959."
On Feb. 1, Sanbag, the county's regional transportation agency, will host a tour of the site at 10 a.m. and pieces of the old bridge will be handed out.
Mayor Pat Morris, City Council members, local business owners as well as Caltrans and Sanbag officials have been invited to attend.
Work began on the new $23 million, four-lane bridge this past February. Construction was recently completed and the bridge is now in use.
The bridge is part of the 215 Freeway widening project between Orange Show Road and University Parkway, which will include an additional lane and car-pool lane in each direction.
The freeway widening has a targeted completion date of 2013.
Workers were expected to begin demolishing the old Fifth Street bridge on Wednesday, but stormy weather forced the postponement.
Demolition should begin as soon as the weather clears up, and the work will be done between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Chunks of the bridge will be cut away with saws, and the debris will be moved out by crane.
Two feet of dirt will be placed on the freeway below to prevent damage should bridge debris fall, Dreher said.
The event is not open to the public, Dreher said.
~Joe Nelson, San Bernardino County Sun
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