North Portal bridge railfan alert

[west point]

The main span of the bridge is coming down the Hudson. watch for the installation and get us a bunch of stills and videos.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/new...TS&cvid=bc06b3f77d84407498adf40f7797dca5&ei=9

 

[Acela150]

The original Portal bridge was opened twice today (11/19) to prepare for the arrival. Both times it closed properly. It'll be intresting to see how it goes when the main span arrives.

 

[west point]

The original Portal bridge was opened twice today (11/19) to prepare for the arrival. Both times it closed properly. It'll be intresting to see how it goes when the main span arrives.

I really hope the weather is great so we can see that whole maneuver getting the span up river of the swing span. Would not be surprised if the passage will be the heaviest ever transit thru the present bridge opening.

Dates for all the work for transiting and installing will need close attention to dates and times.

 

[Dutchrailnut]

This span is one of 3 equal spans the other two can be seen in back of builder site.

 

[PRR 60]

This is the first of three tied-arch spans to be delivered from the fabricator located near Albany. Each of the three arches span 400 feet. To put things in scale, each arch is 86 feet high, 57 feet wide, and weighs about 2700 tons (5.4 million pounds). The channel width will expand from about 90 to 270 feet and clearance above the river will be 50 feet.

It is a huge advantage to be able to fabricate and assemble the arches off site then barge them to the work location rather than stick building the spans on site.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Ok, that last picture was an artistic rendering. Got me confused for a second.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Ok, that last picture was an artistic rendering. Got me confused for a second.

They work fast, don't they?

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

This span is one of 3 equal spans the other two can be seen in back of builder site.View attachment 38366

That really is a lovely shot (kudos to the author).

 

[west point]

Are the 3 spans completely identical? I would guess the center span will be last so tugs can get by the new fixed bridge.

 

[Bernie]

Here it is on site!

 

[Acela150]

Made it to the area around 4am.

 

[PRR 60]

Are the 3 spans completely identical? I would guess the center span will be last so tugs can get by the new fixed bridge.

Would guess they are nearly identical. Span lengths, widths, and arch heights are the same. There may be some minor detailing variations to account for differing fixation to the pier caps and the profile the track across the bridge.

I'll be interested to see if they use the tides to help the lift and placement of the arches. The tidal difference varies from about 3.5 to 5 feet at that location, depending on the moon phases. It would be pretty slick to jack each arch to approximate height on the barge, float it into position at high tide, then let the outgoing tide lower it into place. It would save some heavy picking and lifting.

 

[Touchdowntom9]

How long does it take to get these up on the support? Feels like it could be a day or a month from now but truthfully I have no idea