QEW girders shifted on Welland Ave. overpass

above: Oct.2, 2009 - heading east down Welland Ave. approaching the QEW overpass, in St. Catharines, Ont. Here can be seen that the part of the bridge closest to the camera has not yet received its precast concrete girders, which would support the lanes of the Niagara-bound QEW. Two cranes can be seen set up in preparation to raise the girders in place. Further back can be seen the Toronto-bound lanes of the new bridge, which were completed earlier; that side of the new QEW bridge is temporarily carrying both Toronto and Niagara bound traffic.

above: Oct.2, 2009 - looking at the QEW-Welland Ave. overpass; at the left can be seen that the Niagara-bound girders have not yet been placed. One of the cranes is seen above.

above: Oct.5, 2009 - same view, the girders for the Niagara-bound lanes have been placed over the weekend. The cranes are gone.

above: Oct. 13, 2009 - same view; note in above two photos that all the girders under the bridge are in place, there are no gaps.

above: Oct.23, 09, heading west along Welland Ave. approaching the QEW overpass, there are now cranes seen again above the bridge, on the Niagara-bound side; and there is a new ribbon of light underneath, in the centre of the bridge.

above: Oct.23, 09; a concrete girder in the middle of the QEW bridge has been removed for some reason; workers examine the area. In this view, the Niagara-bound bridge portion under construction is to the right of the missing girder; the currently-in-use QEW lanes are to the left.

above: Oct.23, 09 - the now-missing girder was the twelfth one in, counting from the right. The Niagara-bound lanes now under construction are in the above foreground; the portion of the bridge now-in-use, which temporarily carries both the Toronto and Niagara bound QEW lanes, is to the left of the gap.

above: Oct.23, 09, same view, later the same day; a concrete girder was placed back in the twelfth spot from the right (marked where the red arrow is); not sure whether this was the original girder which was put back; or if it was a new replacement. Why did this procedure take place?

Also, now there is another, thinner gap (visible on the left side of the ninth girder from the right) which wasn't there earlier, compared to the above photos.

above: Oct.23, 09; a closer view of the new gap; the twelfth girder (which was seen entirely removed earlier) would have been the left one of the two darker ones in the upper centre-left. Are the crews shifting all the girders slightly over towards the left; was there a placement problem, which necessitated the removal and replacement of one of the girders?