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ENGINEERING MARVEL BLENDS THE PAST AND PRESENT Centennial Memorial Bridge Centennial Memorial Bridge This marvel of engineering weighs in at four million pounds. And when it opened in June, 2011, the biggest bridge in Beaumont connected the city's storied past with untold new economic opportunities. The rust-colored metal structure, which spans the railroad tracks and San Timoteo Creek, may look like an old-time railroad trestle, but it's actually a bridge to the future. The new bridge also pays tribute to dedicated the ironworkers who built it. Centennial Memorial Bridge UNSUNG HEROES Through rain, wind and fog, workers labored to build the iconic bridge. San Francisco has the Golden Gate. In New York, it's the Brooklyn Bridge. Those famous bridges spanned water and connected two points of land. But in doing so, they also created a sense of architecture. And here in the Pass, bridge builders of today are making their mark just like their brethren of old, in this case honoring the legacy of the railroad and its historic importance to the region. "Being an iron worker is a tough profession," says Porter Rockwell, project man- ager for Adams & Smith, Inc., Lindon, Utah. The company did the steel work. "Building bridges isn't your typical construction job. It's more strenuous, harder work." Noble Creek Bridge at Oak Valley As the bridge came together, workers toiled on steel beams nearly four stories above the creek bed. Tie-off cables secured the laborers as they worked at those heights, just in case. But safety also depended on the close bonds that develop between work partners. "You've got to trust the guy on the other end to know what he's doing," said ironworker Kade Marsh. "Otherwise, he can kill you. But me, I've got no fear of heights." The bridge builders worked in tandem with a crane operator who gently set down big pieces of steel that were fi tted and bolted into place. The ironworkers swung big hammers and used pneumatic air guns with 700 pounds of torque to tighten big bolts. The reverberating sounds of steel being struck by hammers echoed across the open beams. Chiming in was the "rat-a-tat-tat" of air guns. In all, the bridge over San Timoteo Creek is fastened together with about 12,000 big bolts in a process likened to assembling a giant Erector Set. Noble Creek Bridge at Brookside Potrero Bridge LINKING OUR PAST TO THE FUTURE As they went about their daily work, the ironworkers paid homage to Beaumont's railroading past. The bridge itself harkens to the days when steam engines chugged their way through strong winds, scorching heat, and even blowing snow to the top of Beaumont Hill. At 2,591 feet in elevation, it marked the highest point—the Summit—along Southern Pacifi c Railroad's fabled Sunset Route between Los Angeles and New Orleans. So, when you're driving over the new bridge and hear the whistle of a train or the toot-toot of an engineer's horn, give a nod to Beaumont's past and our city's radi- ant future—and to the hearty ironworkers who created a landmark for generations to come. BEAUMONT NOW | SEPTEMBER 2012 9