82-Ton Bridge is Placed 54 Feet Above Street

The Phoenix Convention Center reached a milestone in the construction of the new North Building on Jan. 22. Crews lifted a 150-foot bridge, 54 feet above Third Street in downtown Phoenix, connecting the West Building and the new North Building. The new North Building is set to be completed, on schedule, on Dec. 1.

The $600 million expansion of the city’s convention center began in 2003, and once completed, will triple the size of the former facility to nearly 900,000 square feet of event space.

The Phoenix Convention Center expansion project is a cooperative effort between the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona and is being completed in two phases. Phase One was completed in July 2006 with the opening of the new West Building. Phase Two, the North Building, scheduled for completion in December 2008, broke ground May 2006.

The four-level North Building will be three times the size of the new West Building, and will feature amenities such as a 45,000-square-foot, street-level ballroom, a food court with five themed eateries and 56 meeting rooms.

On Jan. 22, crews closed Third Street in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Steerable axels were placed on each end of the 150-foot bridge. It was then hauled by semi-trailer from the construction site to the northern end of Third Street. Streetlights along the route were removed due to the height of the bridge at 34 feet tall. The bridge weighs 82.5 tons and was lifted by crane.

The bridge will be just one of the crossings that make it convenient to transition from the West to the North Building. Besides a pedestrian crossing on the street level, convention-goers will be able to go from one building to the other below the street through the lower exhibition halls.

“As a convention delegate, you will be able to explore the exhibits of your event in the 312,500 square foot exhibition hall and not know that you have crossed the street from one building to the other,” said Assistant Director Tracey Short.

The bridge will connect the uppermost levels of both buildings which includes a 46,000 square foot ballroom in the West Building and a 190,000 exhibition hall in the North Building.

The construction of the North Building is on schedule and will be complete on Dec. 1, 2008. It will accommodate its first groups in January 2009.