Final Beam Installed at Massive New Bridge in Long Beach

Milestone Reached Two Years After Main Span Construction Began

Final beam installed at Gerald Desmond Bridge projectAlmost exactly two years after construction began on the main span of the new massive bridge at the Port of Long Beach, crews today carefully lifted and connected into place the last major steel floor beam. Several more tasks still need to be completed before the new bridge – California’s first cable-stayed bridge for vehicles -- is expected to open later this year.

Assembling the main span over the Port’s Back Channel has been one of the most complex endeavors of the project. The process began April 26, 2018, with lifting the initial bolted sections of steel flooring and attaching this assembly with the first set of cables to the two 515-foot-tall towers. The bridge project began in 2013.

Main-span construction requires deck sections to be added equally on both sides of the towers. Each floor beam is about 140 feet long and 10 feet tall, weighs about 32 tons and is connected to other steel components known as edge girders with more than 200 bolts. Once a section of floor beams is bolted together, crews attach it to the tower with dozens of specially constructed cables, then place pre-cast concrete road deck panels that form the road deck. In total, there are 117 floor beams that support a main span that rises 205 feet over the water.

Though today’s significant milestone brings completion one step closer, several more major tasks remain to open the bridge later this year. The new bridge will provide a higher passage for cargo ships, extra traffic lanes for trucks and cars, greater resiliency in an earthquake and a 100-year minimum lifespan. 

Additional major tasks include:

• A “post-tensioning” process by which cables are installed horizontally through the floor and pulled tight to increase the strength of the main span concrete deck
  
• Constructing the bike-pedestrian path on the ocean-facing side of the bridge
  
• Further calibrating and tensioning of the 80 cables holding the road deck
  
• A final concrete overlay, which provides long-term protection against daily traffic use
  
• Signing, lighting and more

When fully completed, the new cable-stayed bridge will include six traffic lanes and four emergency shoulders, a higher clearance to accommodate large cargo ships, a bike and pedestrian path with scenic overlooks, and more efficient transition ramps and connectors to improve traffic flow.

The $1.47 billion project to replace the current Gerald Desmond Bridge will provide the Port of Long Beach, greater port complex and the community a state-of-the-art bridge. The new bridge is a joint effort of Caltrans and the Port of Long Beach, with additional funding support from the U.S. Department of Transportation