Crews on the downtown crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project have begun a new phase of construction that project officials are calling a milestone. This is the first work in the project that is primarily above the surface of the water and will be visible to residents.Max Rowland, the project manager with Walsh Construction, said setting the first of six concrete and steel tubs over foundation shafts on Thursday was met with ideal conditions and the 243,000 pound tub “fit like a glove.”“We just hope the next five go as well as this first one did,” he said.Crews took nearly three hours to get the piece into place using a barge and crane. Rowland said the room for error is within a few inches.The tubs will enable crews to pour concrete that will be the foundation for the bridge’s six piers, or footing, Rowland said.Months of preparation have led to this phase and it signals a significant move forward in the project, officials said.“All of the work that we’ve done up to this week has, basically, been from the foundation,” Rowland said. “People will finally begin to see the piers starting to appear.”Once in place, water will be pumped out of the tub and they will be sealed. More concrete and steel reinforcement is also added before the piers begin to take shape.“There are quite a few things that have to happen,” Rowland said.
