After about three months of preparation, linking the shores of Chenoweth Creek with a new bridge span took a matter of hours Friday afternoon.

Eight prefabricated concrete bridge spans, each four feet wide and weighing 126,000 pounds, were trucked to The Dalles Friday in a convoy organized by order of installation, then carefully set in place using a pair of cranes.

The beams were then tied together with a web of steel rods that were fished through predrilled holes in the concrete. When complete, the bridge will be a generous 32 feet and two lanes wide.

Prefab bridge construction is now the way most new bridges of this size are being built, said Don Stenersen, the project supervisor. Stenerson works for Crestline Construction of The Dalles, the general contractor on the project.

The beams were transported to The Dalles by Knife River transportation, using extra-long trailers that require a separate small car — located beneath and between the two trailer sections — to steer the back end of the trailer. It’s the same method used to transport giant windmill propellers to wind farms.

Axis Crane operators positioned the eight beams between abutments constructed on either side of the creek.

The bridge beams have sleeves already set in them for installation of guardrail.

Paving won’t take place for a couple of months yet. The work has to wait until Munsen Paving resumes operation after its winter break, said Greg Jensen, safety officer on the project.

The realigned bridge will provide improved access to the North Chenoweth subdivision of the Port of The Dalles Industrial area, the site of the former Mt. Fir chip mill.

That 80-plus-acre parcel is currently optioned to Google for future development. But if Google doesn’t exercise its option to purchase, the property could be used for other future industrial development.

The bridge is a project of Wasco County and the port.

Recognizing the need to improve access to that parcel, the port agreed to fund up to $400,000 of bridge construction, after $685,000 in Oregon Transportation Initiative Act funding is used up.

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For More Information Contact Port of The Dalles, 3636 Klindt Drive, The Dalles, OR 97058 Phone: 541-298-4148 Fax: 541-298-2136