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Massive Bridge Project Ready To Get Underway In Grand Terrace

GRAND TERRACE (CBSLA.com) — Starting 12:30 a.m., Caltrans will shut down the 215 Freeway in Grand Terrace in order to start a month-long project.

KCAL9's Crystal Cruz says all systems are go for the project.

"Tonigh we're ready to roll," said Terri Kasinga of Caltrans.

It's being called "Spring Sting" for a reason.

Four massive pieces of railroad bridge are being moved into place and then pieced together. Transporting the huge sections from where they're being built to where they'll eventually serve as a bridge (about a half mile away) will be a massive undertaking. Cruz says it will take several hours just for one piece to go half a mile.

Just one piece of the bridge weighs 1 million pounds and is 200 feet long.

The same company that moved the Endeavour through the streets of Los Angeles in 2012, is in charge of moving the bridge pieces. By way of comparison, Cruz reports the space shuttle only weighed 150,000 pounds.

The four-day routine will be repeated through April 25, when the fourth span is installed. Two more spans will be set this summer.

The closure affects the area between Iowa Avenue and Barton Road.

According to Caltrans, Northbound lanes close at 11 p.m. April 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24. Lanes reopen at 5 a.m. North and southbound lanes: 12-hour closures start at 11:30 p.m. April 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26. Lanes reopen 11:30 a.m.

Not everyone was excited by what the closures would mean to their commute.

"It's going to be hard," said commuter Kim Chin. "I take the 215 every day to the train station and I have to wake up really early in other to get there on time."

A gas station owner told Cruz he thought the closures would cost him thousands of dollars in revenue each day.

"If they want to close it, we lose a lot of business," he said.

Moving the bridge over 16 days was a better idea than the alternative, according to Caltrans.

"If we had done this the normal way, which would have been to erect these bridges over the 215,  it would have taken a lot of months of closures," said Kasinga.

For alternate routes, Cruz suggest drivers should use the 15 then cut across using the 60 or 10 to get to the closed part of Grand Terrace.

For more information on this and other Caltrans projects, visit their website. There, you can also sign up for Email alerts.

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