'Tide' construction
calls for big steel

NORFOLK, Va. - On Thursday, crews brought in a steel girder weighing about 57,000 pounds and spanning almost half the length of a football field as a part of The Tide light rail construction.

This is the first of 18 planned shipments of the major girders to the area. The girders will serve as the superstructure for the elevated light rail station at NSU.

While The Tide is intended to ease traffic congestion in the long run, installing the girders is going to cause road closures that may lead to delays in the meantime. Crews are closing the Brambleton Avenue exit at I-264 westbound to all traffic starting January 13. Eastbound traffic on Brambleton will also be blocked from the eastbound entrance to I-264.

We've posted the video from Chopper 10 of the girder transport.