Vecellio & Grogan bridge crews worked around the clock to erect 15 lines of girders, three girders per line, across Triangle Town Blvd. as part of I-540 construction in Raleigh, NC. The crews completed the bridge work in less than seven days.

It took a super effort, but Vecellio & Grogan crews were up to the task.

V&G had just seven days to shut off traffic and erect 45 steel girders for the North-South Connector bridge on its I-540 project in Raleigh, NC.

Faced with liquidated damages of $1,000.00 an hour if traffic wasn’t restored on time, two Vecellio & Grogan bridge crews swapped 12-hour shifts the entire week, placing girder after girder around the clock and not stopping until every bolt — all 14,920 — was tightly fastened.

Each completed span was 286 feet long, consisting of two 82-ft. end girders spliced to a 122-ft. middle beam.

The crews made the tough deadline with nine hours to spare, but not because the work was easy. On the contrary, the logistics alone were difficult to overcome.

Beyond the seven-day limit and 24-hour work schedule, the oversize rigs hauling the girders were permitted to operate between 9 am and 2 pm only, yet enough girders had to be delivered for installation the full 24 hours each day. It took six cranes to erect them all.

Senior Bridge Estimator Matt Farley provided assistance to Jim Bower and his bridge crew of Richard Clarey, James Bolen, Luis Nunez, Guillermo Rodriguez, Cody Jenson, Pedro Luna, Alejandro Montes, Luis Montes, Jose Delgado and Luis Opez.

Chris Harkins’ crew consisted of Tracy Bombria, Bobby Lewis, Raymundo Aguilar, Esteban Cruz, Luciano Aguilar, Cesar Reyes, Jose Reina, Javier Reina, Angel Barron and Jorge Garcia.