Monumental Move

Last Friday we got to witness a monumental move. A true testament to engineering ingenuity. A climax in constructional creativity. And it was about as exciting as watching grass grow.

Ok, so maybe I'm being a little harsh-- especially since Lance was so excited (this is the guy who used to pray for the tractors and other construction equipment as a kid). And actually, it was really cool. Around 10pm the existing bridge exit for American Fork Main street was closed to traffic so that spectators could watch from it as the new bridge was put into place. This new bridge, weighing in at 4 million pounds, is the largest bridge ever to be moved. Ever. Using some fancy equipment with wheels and a really, really big remote control, half of the bridge (complete with driving surface, guardrails and sidewalk) was inched over both south- and northbound lanes of I-15 to rest over the previously completed pillars. The second half was moved Sunday night. It took over three hours just to get it in place. So my comparison to watching grass grow is accurate- they could only move a bit at a time, making frequent stops to make sure nothing had twisted or shifted out of place. It was one of those things where if you stare at it you can't see it moving, but as soon as you look away and then look back, you can tell it isn't where it was before. In between staring across the street and listening in on the familiar awkwardness of a couple on their first or second date standing just behind us, I actually fell asleep for about half an hour. So, when I woke up, it looked like the bridge had actually jumped across the highway instead of crawled.

I think Lance may have stayed there all night, if by midnight I didn't have to go to the bathroom so bad from that free hot chocolate that was no longer keeping me warm. However, we did have a good time, and it's neat to say that we witnessed history in the making.