Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Bridge’s 2nd arch to be placed today

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The second of the two arches that will become the new Broadway Bridge spanning the Arkansas River will be floated into place today, the Arkansas Highway and Transporta­tion Department said.

The operation to move the arch from its mooring on the river’s North Little Rock bank will begin “at some point after” 8 a.m. with what the department called a “delicate choreograp­hy of barges and towboats” to move the arch upriver and into its final position.

The river in that area will be closed to all traffic beginning at 7 a.m. to “reduce the potential for disturbing the process, which is weather dependent,” the department said.

Positionin­g the second arch has been delayed because of uncertaint­ies related to last week’s detonation of a footing that supported the old bridge.

Initial reports indicated that explosives did not fully remove the footing and break it into manageable pieces underwater, according to the department.

Further investigat­ion determined that the footing explosives did detonate properly, but the resulting debris didn’t disperse as planned. Instead, the footing separated into large pieces that remained in place. Additional equipment was taken to the job site and used to clear the debris pile to a depth that would allow placement of the second arch.

There will not be any viewing location restrictio­ns outside of the work zone for today’s bridge work, the department said.

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