Installation of a pedestrian bridge Friday morning on the Canyon Rim Trail involved three cranes and about 50 workers. Photo by Edward BirnbaumFriday morning’s installation of the pedestrian bridge for the Canyon Rim Trail was quite an operation, involving three cranes and somewhere around 50 workers.
The photo above shows the three cranes used in what was about a two to three hour process, not counting the time needed to get the cranes in place.
Once the pieces of the bridge were bolted together, the very heavy structure (that looks strong enough to drive a tank over) was lifted up, first with the two cranes on the north side of the canyon (foreground), and then, after some maneuvering, lowered again and the northernmost crane was detached, leaving the bridge supported in the center by one crane (yellow) and the canyon rim.
The crane on the south side was then connected to the south end of the bridge and the crane on the north rim (yellow) connected to the north end of the bridge, after which the bridge was gently lifted up and carefully maneuvered onto the pre-installed concrete mounts on the two sides of the canyon. Whew!
