Center Street viaduct will be demolished

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By Justin Smith

The viaduct connecting Center Street east and west of I-15 in Provo is being demolished.

Work to destroy the historic bridge began Thursday when the I-15 CORE construction crew took down sections of the bridge. The demolition is expected to take approximately three weeks. New on and off ramps in addition to a fly-over bridge will be completed by mid-November.

[media-credit name=”Chris Bunker” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]
The destruction of the viaduct that connects west and east Provo is underway.

Leigh Dethman, I-15 CORE public relations manager, said she was at the site Thursday morning excited to see the tractors at work.

“The work is really starting to take shape,” Dethman said. “We are demolishing several bridges up and down I-15 so we will be shuffling around until it is all done.”

Dethman said they are carefully working to protect the railroad under the demolition zone.

“We just knock the bridge out and let it fall down except over the tracks, we will have to pick the girders up and lift them out so they wont fall on the tracks,” she said.

The fly-over bridge was opened Oct. 22 to facilitate travelers going from west Provo to east Provo near the demolition site. Westbound travelers will have to use the detour until construction completion in mid-November.

“We worked really closely with Provo city officials to design an interchange that will greatly increase mobility and efficiency in this area,” she said.

Interactive maps and videos of the Center Street construction project can be found at www.i15core.utah.gov. [http://www.i15core.utah.gov/]

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