FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Work on the High-Speed Rail Shaw Avenue overpass in Fresno is moving into a new phase this week as crews begin placing massive pre-cast concrete girders that will form the future roadway.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority, working with design-build contractor Tutor-Perini/Zachry Parsons, began installing girders for the grade separation project.
Girder placement and installation will continue daily between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. through April 7.
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Five girders will be transported to the construction site each day and set on top of the structure.
A total of 36 girders are needed to form the superstructure of the overpass.
Some of the girders will span more than 150 feet and can weigh more than 165,000 pounds each.
Construction on the Shaw Avenue overpass and grade separation project began last summer with the building of a bypass road to route traffic around the work area.
Once complete, the overpass will eliminate the current at-grade railroad crossing, a change aimed at improving safety and east-west mobility for drivers and pedestrians.
The overpass is designed to carry traffic over Golden State Boulevard, the Union Pacific Railroad, and future High-Speed Rail tracks.
The structure is expected to span 457 feet long and 110 feet wide when finished.
The Shaw Avenue project is one of nearly 30 active high-speed rail construction sites in the Central Valley between Madera and Kern counties.
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The authority says 59 structures have been completed across the first 119 miles of the high-speed rail project.