Replacing bridges

My wanders today took me to the New Hampshire coast and to Portsmouth, where I saw the (current) Memorial Bridge for probably the last time. Construction on a replacement bridge is about to start. The existing bridge has been closed to vehicles since last July, with the pedestrian crossing closed as of last Monday morning.

I'm fascinated by the replacement process. The three sections of the old bridge - the center lift span, and the north and south flanking spans, will be lowered to barges and floated to the old Quincy Ship Yard. Then the new construction begins. The design of the new bridge can be seen on the "New Memorial Bridge" page here.

I wish I could see the floating of the old bridge sections; unfortunately for me I'll be far from here on holiday on the days the floating is projected to occur. I'll be sure to watch the progress over the next year and a half though.