By Karen Robes Meeks
Work on the Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle Pedestrian Path is underway on the south side of the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project.
According to the port, steel platforms are being installed to form the 12-foot-wide path named after the deceased city Bicycle Master Plan creator and Long Beach Bike Festival founder.
The new path – which will include three observation decks – will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to go to and from the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Pico Avenue on the port’s east side and is expected to end on the new bridge’s west side at State Route 47.
Showing posts with label Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Friday, April 24, 2020
Port of Long Beach Bridge Project Reached Milestone
By Karen Robes Meeks
The Port of Long Beach’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement project reached a major milestone this week when crew members linked into place the last major steel floor beam on California’s first cable-stayed bridge.
Slated to open this year, the $1.47 billion bridge will feature six traffic lanes, a bike and pedestrian path, more room to accommodate larger cargo ships and better traffic flow with more efficient transition ramps and connectors.
The work is being done amid the COVID-19 health crisis. While the project is among the 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors allowed to continue, officials are minding health guidelines for those working on the project, such as frequent handwashing, canceling community and guest tours of the bridge project and hosting construction-related meetings by teleconference if practical.
The Port of Long Beach’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement project reached a major milestone this week when crew members linked into place the last major steel floor beam on California’s first cable-stayed bridge.
Slated to open this year, the $1.47 billion bridge will feature six traffic lanes, a bike and pedestrian path, more room to accommodate larger cargo ships and better traffic flow with more efficient transition ramps and connectors.
The work is being done amid the COVID-19 health crisis. While the project is among the 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors allowed to continue, officials are minding health guidelines for those working on the project, such as frequent handwashing, canceling community and guest tours of the bridge project and hosting construction-related meetings by teleconference if practical.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
POLB Projects Progressing, Chief Executive Says
By Mark Edward Nero
The two most high-profile multi-year construction projects currently ongoing at the Port of Long Beach are poised to have significant amounts of progress complete by the end of 2015, the port’s chief executive said during the annual State of the Port address on Jan. 29.
One of the projects is the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project, a ten-year redevelopment plan consisting of the combining of two aging shipping terminals, Pier E and Pier F, into one modern terminal for the purpose of improving cargo-movement efficiency and reduction of environmental hazards. Preliminary work on the project began in the spring of 2011 and in April 2012 Orient Overseas Container Line signed a 40-year, $4.6 billion lease with the port to operate the 300-acre terminal along with its subsidiary, Long Beach Container Terminal. LBCT has occupied Pier F since 1986.
“By summer (of 2015), we will reach a major milestone for this $1.3 billion project with completion of the first phase,” Slangerup said. “By fall, our partners OOCL and Long Beach Container Terminal can open Middle Harbor for business.”
Completion of Phase 1 is expected to increase overall container capacity at the port by 10 percent while at the same time reducing air emissions and ushering in an era of all-electric terminal operations, Slangerup said.
The project is expected to be complete by 2020. When both phases are complete, Middle Harbor will have the capacity to handle three million TEUs, which would increase the port’s overall container-moving capacity by 20 percent.
“If Middle Harbor was a standalone port, it would rank as the country’s fourth-busiest port,” Slangerup said. “It’s a massive thing.”
The other project updated was the construction of a replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge, a $1.3 billion project that intends to replace the existing 47-year-old bridge that traverses the port and Terminal Island, with a taller, wider – but still currently unnamed – bridge.
“Nearly a third of the bridge’s 351 piles have been constructed and the rest will be done this year,” he said. “The towers will rise more than 500 feet into the air, making the bridge the city’s tallest structure. And besides adding to the skyline, the new bridge will increase capacity by about one third, speeding travel for thousands of our daily commuters as well as improving conditions for trucks that today carry 15 percent of America’s imports.”
The bridge is expected to be completed between by mid-2018.
The two most high-profile multi-year construction projects currently ongoing at the Port of Long Beach are poised to have significant amounts of progress complete by the end of 2015, the port’s chief executive said during the annual State of the Port address on Jan. 29.
One of the projects is the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project, a ten-year redevelopment plan consisting of the combining of two aging shipping terminals, Pier E and Pier F, into one modern terminal for the purpose of improving cargo-movement efficiency and reduction of environmental hazards. Preliminary work on the project began in the spring of 2011 and in April 2012 Orient Overseas Container Line signed a 40-year, $4.6 billion lease with the port to operate the 300-acre terminal along with its subsidiary, Long Beach Container Terminal. LBCT has occupied Pier F since 1986.
“By summer (of 2015), we will reach a major milestone for this $1.3 billion project with completion of the first phase,” Slangerup said. “By fall, our partners OOCL and Long Beach Container Terminal can open Middle Harbor for business.”
Completion of Phase 1 is expected to increase overall container capacity at the port by 10 percent while at the same time reducing air emissions and ushering in an era of all-electric terminal operations, Slangerup said.
The project is expected to be complete by 2020. When both phases are complete, Middle Harbor will have the capacity to handle three million TEUs, which would increase the port’s overall container-moving capacity by 20 percent.
“If Middle Harbor was a standalone port, it would rank as the country’s fourth-busiest port,” Slangerup said. “It’s a massive thing.”
The other project updated was the construction of a replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge, a $1.3 billion project that intends to replace the existing 47-year-old bridge that traverses the port and Terminal Island, with a taller, wider – but still currently unnamed – bridge.
“Nearly a third of the bridge’s 351 piles have been constructed and the rest will be done this year,” he said. “The towers will rise more than 500 feet into the air, making the bridge the city’s tallest structure. And besides adding to the skyline, the new bridge will increase capacity by about one third, speeding travel for thousands of our daily commuters as well as improving conditions for trucks that today carry 15 percent of America’s imports.”
The bridge is expected to be completed between by mid-2018.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Foundation Laid for New Harbor Bridge
By Mark Edward Nero
Port of Long Beach, City of Long Beach and California Dept.
of Transportation officials, along with a team of builders and designers, recently
commemorated a key milestone in the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project: construction
of the first set of bridge foundations.
On Oct. 1, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and members of the
City Council and Harbor Commission gathered to view the construction of
foundation piles that contain a massive amount of steel rebar and concrete.
This new bridge, which will span the port, will be supported
by about 350 piles constructed in the ground at depths down to 175 feet below
the surface, with poured concrete and inserted steel rebar in pre-dug holes.
“It’s very exciting to see the construction in full swing,”
Garcia said. “This new bridge will be a dramatic addition to the Long Beach
skyline and it all starts here, with these solid concrete-and-steel
foundations.”
Mayor Garcia, Harbor Commission President Doug Drummond and
Port Chief Executive Jon Slangerup were joined at the event by Caltrans
District 7 Director Carrie Bowen and Bob Schraeder, design-build project
manager for SFI, the joint venture contractor team comprised of Shimmick
Construction Co. Inc., FCC Construcción S.A. and Impregilo SpA.
The new bridge will include six traffic lanes and emergency
shoulders, a higher clearance to accommodate new generations of cargo ships and
a dedicated bicycle path and pedestrian walkway, including scenic overlooks. When
completed, the new bridge will be one of the tallest bridges of its kind in the
United States and feature two 515-foot towers.
The project is a joint effort of the California Dept. of
Transportation and the port, with funding contributions from the US Department
of Transportation and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority.
When the existing bridge was built more than 45 years ago,
cargo ships were one-sixth the size they are today, and the current bridge
prevents the newest generation of cargo ships from reaching the inner channel.
The new bridge will raise the clearance from 155 feet to 205 feet above the
water.
The current Gerald Desmond Bridge will remain in use while
the new bridge is under construction, then the existing bridge will be
demolished once the new one’s completed.
In June, port Acting Executive Director Al Moro, an engineer
by trade, revealed that the still-unnamed new bridge, which was set for
completion in late 2016, is now expected to be complete anywhere from late 2017
to mid-2018.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Port Connector Road Closing for 2 Years
By Mark Edward Nero
As part of a project to build a replacement for the Gerald
Desmond Bridge, the southbound I-710 (Long Beach) Freeway connector to
westbound Ocean Boulevard/the Gerald Desmond Bridge closed May 10 so it can be
demolished.
The ramp is expected to be out of commission for about
two-and-a-half years.
The ramp’s demolition is required to lay the foundations of a
new bridge that will replace the obsolete Gerald Desmond Bridge, and to build a
new southbound I-710 Freeway connector ramp to the new passage. The new bridge is
being built just north of the existing structure.
Construction work will include eventual demolition of the
eastbound Ocean-to-northbound I-710 connection. Details of that closure are
expected to be announced later this year.
With the connector closed, southbound I-710 traffic heading
to Terminal Island is being diverted onto southbound Pico Avenue, then to an
on-ramp that rejoins westbound Ocean to cross the Desmond Bridge. Detour signs
are in place, and a temporary traffic light is being installed at the
intersection of Pico and Pier D Street.
The $1 billion Desmond Bridge project consists of
replacement of the current 45-year-old structure with a new state-of-the-art
span. The new, still-unnamed structure is expected to be finished in 2016.
The new bridge is designed to be higher from the water and have
more traffic lanes than the present bridge.
