First bridge for South Valley Connector to be completed this summer

The 423 foot-long bridge is expected to finish construction by the end of August or the beginning of September, according to Tyler Clyde, the project superintendent.

The bridge’s construction has required a number of cranes to hoist steel girders in place. At one point, Clyde said four cranes were used at once. At the construction site Monday, only two were being used.

The cranes place the girders on two concrete footings called abutments, which are steel piles that go up to 80 or 90 feet in the ground.

“This bridge is built with two abutments, one on (the east) side of the river and one on the west side,” Clyde said. “It’s basically where the steel girder sits down on the concrete and bears all the weight of the bridge.”

This bridge in particular will span over the Portneuf River, Union Pacific railroad tracks and South Second Avenue.

Even with our area’s rain, both Clyde and city engineer Deirdre Castillo said construction wasn’t hindered too badly.

“They were doing a lot of underground work. They were doing pile driving and things like that,” said Castillo.

The South Valley Connector has been a long time coming. In talks for around 20 years, Castillo is relieved to see girders being laid down.

“When we start seeing all the bridges being built and the steel girders going up in the air– it’s like we can just breath a sigh of relief,” said Castillo. “We’re out of the woods.”

Construction for the entire South Valley Connector is expected to finish by December. The length of the connector will be one mile, from Bannock Highway to Fifth Avenue.