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May 2005: Bow-Tie Strut Ceiling Slab Pour, Pier 38; Steel and Stay-Cable Guide Pipe Assembly and Installation, Pier 37
Eastbound view (in Arkansas) along the eventual alignment for US Highway 82. As the bridge towers grow taller, motorists are beginning to get an idea of what it will be like to approach the new bridge.
Westbound view (in Mississippi) along the eventual alignment for US Highway 82.
The size difference between the old and new bridge is apparent in these horizon views, taken from the same location along US 82 in Arkansas. Magnification is identical.
Pier 38: Concrete is placed for the top slab of the bow-tie strut. Like the bottom slab and the two wall slabs, the top slab is 2 feet (0.6m) thick.
Pier 38: Concrete is placed for the top slab of the bow-tie strut. Standard practice for placing concrete on inclined surfaces is to work from low to high elevation, to accommodate gravity. Concrete placement begins at the center of the strut and moves outward towards the tower leg.
Pier 38: Concrete is placed for the top slab of the bow-tie strut.
Pier 38: Finishing work on concrete at the center of the bow-tie strut.
Pier 38: Finishing work after concrete placement for the north half of the bow-tie strut’s top slab.
Workers atop the bow-tie strut at Pier 37 as viewed from a similar position at Pier 38.
To prepare stay cable guide pipes for installation on the pier towers, welders fabricate steel template used to secure the position of the pipes during the placement of concrete.
Wooden “sawtooth” forms define the shape of the inside void in the pier towers. Here, the forms have been joined to the steel template and guide pipes.
A cage of reinforcing steel is built around the sawtooth forms and completed tower leg sections are transported by barge to the pier site.
Pier 37: The reinforcing steel/guide pipe assembly is hoisted to the top of the tower’s south leg by crane. The lift progresses slowly, taking 5-7 minutes.
Pier 37: The reinforcing steel/guide pipe assembly is eased into position atop the south tower leg.
Once the reinforcing steel/guide pipe assembly has been secured atop the tower leg, a surveyor ensures the assembly is aligned to its proper elevation and location in space. From his vantage point 750 feet (228.5m) away, the surveyor can deal with tolerances of as little as 1/8 inch (3mm).
Sunrise at the 1940 bridge.
Shortly after sunrise, fishermen cast their lines among the cypress trees on Lake Chicot near the town of Lake Village, Arkansas.