Temporary bridge over creek to be removed Friday night

Thanks to some good weather conditions, the haulers who have been transporting several very heavy loads to the West Campus Cogeneration Facility construction site on campus this week are ahead of schedule.

Consequently, they have notified the university that they will be taking down the temporary steel I-beam bridge over Willow Creek sooner than planned.

The removal will begin at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 16) and take approximately eight hours. Observatory Drive between Walnut Street and Linden Drive will be closed during that time, and should be reopened by 4 a.m. on Saturday (Jan. 17). The original plan was to remove the bridge starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

The temporary bridge was installed on top of the existing Willow Creek bridge last Sunday so that cargo weighing up to 240,000 pounds could be transported across the creek to the power plant site by 135,000-pound vehicles.