Early this morning, in the cover of darkness, the contractor raised and fitted the final center piece of the arch on the Margaret McDermott Bridge that crosses the Trinity River on the eastbound IH30 side. Now, work can begin at the transition bases on the other side of the bridge. There, the second arch will transition out of the bedrock skyward into the air along the westbound lanes of traffic.
Unlike Maggie 1, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, also designed by Santiago Calatrava, famed Spanish Architect, the arch was placed by crane. Although it was a much shorter arch, but taller, the Maggie 2 center piece was raised much like an elevator to the top were it was bolted and welded into place.
It was a bit after one o'clock this afternoon when I finished up my texture shoot and made my way down to the bridge, When I got out of the car, a local news anchor, was walking back to his car. I ask him when the arch was in place-- yesterday or this morning? He said that the work was done during the night beginning after midnight. At 5 o'clock this evening, the news media had time-lapse of the raising. It seems that the local mainstream media all got heads-up on the event and the freelancers got nothing. And what we did get was after-the-fact.
It is an insult to the freelancers who promote the city as much and often-times more than the mainstream media, especially on events like this and others likened to the move of the Big Boy Union Pacific engine and all the cars and engines that were at Fair Park before the move to Frisco. But, that is the way the world works and Karma eventually will balance out those slaps in the face.
Former Mayor Tom Leppert, knew how to promote the city using freelancers and he was a CEO of a major construction company. Having said that, here are a couple of shots from this afternoons trip.
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| The eastbound arch is completed this morning. |
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| A view of the east bound arch from the west side, where work will now begin on that arch. |
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| The westside transition bases have been poured and cured for months, even before the floods in May. |
