GALENA CREEK, - Bridge building isn’t for sissies, especially the Galena Bridge project. Even though it appears as if the arches are being built, what you see are actually the forms for the reinforced concrete that eventually will be the arches. This is where not being a sissy comes in. Steel monkeys as they are affectionately called, have to walk the steel girders in order to put the steel beams in place. They walk the beams a hundred feet in the air. One false step and it’s like trying to fly with one wing.

All this iron is called false works. It will all come down once the concrete arches are poured. Nevada Department of Transportation officials say the pouring should begin in about two months. Even then, don’t expect to drive across this massive structure any time soon. The bridge is still a good years from being completed.

CC Myers out of California is the contractor for the bridge, and their engineers believe building a bridge this way is the safest way. And they may be right. So far, despite the hanging of steel, and the number of heavy machinery working around the project, there has not been one single injury to anyone.

These crews aren’t lollygagging either. They have just one thousand days to complete the bridge project. And each day is cost $400,000.00. To be more specific, try $50,000.00 an hour.

Right now, N-DOT officials are estimating the entire project will be finished by the year 2012. It will be no small feat. When it’s finished, the bridge will be the largest concrete arch bridge in the United States.