humor me.

you know i love my job, right?

i'll spare you the 7 hour version, but believe me when i say:

i.love.my.job.a.lot.

if you love me, you'll sit tight and let me share this completely amazing engineering moment with you.

and if not? i'll send you every bridge photo i have stored in my phone.

if you're in the state of utah, maybe you've heard of these amazing midnight bridge moving situations.

it started on 4500 south and i-215, then moved along i-80 {six times over}, and then back to the 215 @ 3300 south.

each time, it was amazing.

amazing to the 10,000 people that came out to see how it would go down

{even some people who came out to see it fail. boo on you!!}

moving a 2.2 million pound bridge has become a standard bill of business around here.

build the bridge -----> there.

then move it <------- there.

in one day.

okay, yada yada.

enter the south layton interchange.

a single point urban interchange that we moved into place last weekend, where before then, a freeway interchage did NOT exist. amazing, no?

yes.

do you know why we do it?

to minimize impacts to YOU, the roadway user.

we minimize the frequency/duration of lane closures...

and it puts less machinery in place of your free flowing freeway space.

{you can thank me later}

i felt bashful for a quick minute about my jaw, dropped in wonder at the engineering feat happening 5 feet from my face.

but i got over that when i spied even the bridge-iest of all bridge people snapping pictures with thier phones, just like me.

i mean, they live this stuff all day long and even THEY were wow'd.

so now, the pictures.

i promise you one line commentary for the pictures below.

remember, IT'S AMAZING.

1. that's a bridge. launching over MOVING TRAFFIC. wwwwhat? how 'bout that for minimal impacts, yo?

2. in one line or less, here's how it worked: temporary supports are attached to the bridge. when the bridge was nearly in place, the temp supports had to go. crews used a high oxygen cutter to shear off the temp supports. what a sight.

3. after the fireworks, cranes lifted the temp supports up, up, up and away. right before my eyes and right over my head.

4. also attaching the temp supports to the bridge were bolts the size of your hand weights. they fell like plink-o chips.

5. we moved up to the top of the bridge to ride it into its final position. maybe i felt like a rodeo queen. maybe i waved.

6. brave men suspended themselves over the freeway to do their thing... while i watched from above.

7. it got closer and closer...

8. we ended the night {er, morning.... 5 a.m.} with a high five from one side of the bridge to the next. then we kicked off our boots and went to bed.

want more? let my friend darin explain to you how it really works. apparently, you just "grease it up and let it slide"

uh, that's what she said.