Hood River freeway work week of Feb. 8, 2021

Carson and Company crews cut their first large hole in the bridge deck as they removed several 10-foot slabs of concrete and rebar on I-84 in Hood River before snowfall shut down operations the week of Feb. 8.

 Kirby Neumann-Rea photo

Snowfall shut down the Interstate 84 bridge replacement project late last week in Hood River but not before Carson and Company crews cut their first large hole in the bridge deck as they removed several 10-foot slabs of concrete and rebar. A forklift picks up each slab after mechanical punching machines have perforated the concrete and workers have used blow torches and saws to cut each length of crosshatching rebar. In doing so, workers avoid damaging the numerous vertical “Nelson bolts” that strengthen the freeway support beams; at right, a worker uses a hand-tool to clean away concrete from around the Nelson bolts. Freeway traffic continues between exits 63 and 64 but motorists should be aware of slower construction zone speeds due to the narrowing and serpentining lanes, compressed into the northern half of the bridge while the southern (east-bound) portion is taken out.