Kenneth F. Burns Memorial Bridge

WORCESTER — It started 300 feet inside the murky water of Lake Quinsigamond. Construction workers drilled huge steel columns into the bedrock at the bottom of the lake, then built steel arches above the water's surface. The arches were coated with steel sheets, which were topped with steel bars. This week, workers are pouring the concrete that will form the bridge's surface. "It's kind of like building a cake, and then you pour everything on top of it," said Jonathan L. Gulliver, district highway director for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The new Kenneth F. Burns Bridge on Route 9 is starting to take shape. The span now nearing completion is only half of the project. When the new span opens in January, workers will begin demolishing the old bridge and build another new one in its place. Ultimately, there will be two identical bridges running side by side across the lake, one carrying traffic eastbound and the other westbound. Each bridge will have three lanes and be better equipped to carry the 45,000 vehicles that travel this stretch of Route 9 every day. Video by Rick Cinclair, read more at telegram.com http://www.telegram.com/article/20131114/NEWS/311159932/1116&nocache=1