Major milestone reached on South Circle Drive bridge replacement in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Bright lights and two giant pumps overnight Sunday are the latest signs of progress on the project to replace four bridges on Circle Drive, on the city's south side.

Crews began pouring cement around midnight on the upper eastbound bridge across railroad tracks and Hancock Expressway; last month, workers finished pouring cement on the lower bridge across Fountain Creek and Las Vegas Street.

The pouring will eventually deposit 8 inches of concrete for the new deck; crews are taking advantage of good weather to do the work during the overnight and early morning hours.

Officials say that the pouring should be finished before noon; Hancock and Las Vegas should reopen then.

Curing and hardening of the concrete should take approximately five days; crews also will start paving the new lanes on either side of the bridge decks.

Officials provided KRDO 13's The Road Warrior with a rare up-close look of the cement pouring during Good Morning Colorado on Monday.

By Thanksgiving, eastbound traffic will shift to the new bridges; westbound traffic will move to the old eastbound bridges; and the existing westbound bridges will be demolished.

The new bridges also will have something the old ones didn't -- sidewalks.

The $40 million project started last fall and is scheduled for completion next fall.

Revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation's penny sales tax is financing the bridge construction.