One Last Pour Means We’re Almost There- Deck Pour Marks Halfway Point For Valley View Street Bridge Reconstruction

The east half of the Valley View Street Bridge will be finished in mid-November after one last concrete pour that recently took place.  Following its completion, the east half of the bridge will be ready for commuters, with traffic shifting to the newly reconstructed portion of the bridge. Construction on the west half of the bridge will begin in December

The pour for the east half of the bridge is scheduled to occur this weekend. The concrete then must cure for 10 days. The process of curing involves holding water in the concrete so that it increases its strength. The concrete must remain wet for this period of time in order for the water to fully penetrate the concrete.

At this point, the bridge will go through a process called post-tensioning. Post-tensioned concrete is concrete that is cast around a plastic, aluminum or steel curved duct containing tendons. The tendons are woven through the column before the concrete is poured and then pulled taught afterwards to create tension. This makes the columns stronger and more resistant to environmental stress.

From that point, the falsework will then be removed and the newly reconstructed east half of the bridge will open for business.

Construction on the east half of the bridge began in January 2011. The reconstruction of the Valley View Street Bridge is projected for completion in mid- 2012.