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The most recent set of construction photos appear on the main Photo Album page.

April-July 2004: Tower base construction, Piers 36, 37, 38
For reference, component parts of the two main bridge towers are shown in this diagram.
April 4, 2004 – Pier 37: Formwork for the first of seven concrete lifts in the pier shaft. Each lift is approximately 11.5 feet (3.5m) high.
April 4, 2004 – Pier 37: Concrete is delivered to the placement location by barges carrying four 4-cubic yard (3.6 cubic meter) buckets. The buckets are lifted by crane and the concrete is deposited where needed.
May 11, 2004: View to the east from the Arkansas bank with Pier 37 in the foreground and Pier 38 in the distance.
May 19, 2004 – Pier 38: Reinforcing and forms are in place to receive the first tower concrete at the main river pier on the Mississippi side of the river. A large hopper at the top of the orange pipe will receive the concrete and the pipe will contain it as it falls to the placement location inside the blue forms.
May 19, 2004 – Pier 38: Concrete is delivered to the placement location by barges carrying four 4 cubic yard (3.6 cubic meter) buckets. The buckets are lifted by crane and the concrete is deposited into hoppers at the top of the orange pipes. The pipes contain the concrete as it reaches the forms below.
June 3, 2004: A delegation from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) visits Pier 37.
July 12, 2004: Tower construction at Pier 37 has reached the level where the tower angles back to the inside, as indicated by the reinforcing steel bars (arrow). The roadway level will be slightly above the point where the rebar ends.
July 5, 2004: Five concrete levels or “lifts” are visible at Pier 37. Each lift is approximately 11.5 feet (3.5m) high.
July 5, 2004: Pier 37: Formwork from the last standard 11.5 foot (3.5m) lift is being removed to make way for the geometrically more complicated forms that will form the roadway level of the pier.
July 5, 2004: At Pier 37, concrete is deposited in the square hoppers seen at the top of the long orange pipes. The concrete travels down the pipes into the blue tower forms at the bottom of the pipes.