Replacing the Broadway Bridge is about to get very noisy. The Idaho Transportation Department says crews will start pile driving Wednesday morning.
Pile driving is when steel beams are mounted on a crane and driven into the ground. Each pile is 65-feet long. A total of 168 piles will be hammered deep into the river bed to support the bridge foundation.
ITD says drivers and neighbors will hear a lot of noise over the next four to six weeks. Crews will drill the piles into the ground seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Pile driving creates not only noise, but vibrations that can travel quite a distance from a construction site.
Last week, ITD closed the Boise River under the bridge to floaters while it is demolished. Anyone who does float the river will have to get out at the West ParkCenter Bridge and portage along the greenbelt detour to the Friendship Bridge near Boise State University.
ITD says floating is a safety issue while the old bridge is torn down. The Department does plan to reopen the river for summer recreationists.
Crews hope to have the new bridge completed by fall.
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