Photo courtesy of @newgdbridge.

Included in this week’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project update, a 3.1 million-pound bridge builder, technically called an orange Movable Scaffolding System (MSS), was lowered to the ground.

The bridge builder—about the size of a small warship—was lowered after workers completed the westbound approach of the Bridge Project, prompting the move of the MSS to the eastbound approach to begin work on that segment of the new bridge.

Such a maneuver might not seem very exciting, but when captured on video, viewers can get an idea of the just-less-than-an-hour-long feat of simply moving it into place under the towers onto which it will be lifted.

“With this machine we can build a concrete structure span by span,” Bill Corn, director of SFI JV, the entity in charge of the build, said in a 2015 video about the MSS. “Each span is about 200 feet and we can do that in about two to three weeks once we get rolling.”

A Mammoet Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) was used to maneuver the MSS. The SPMT is able to move from side to side, forward and backward and even diagonally in some cases.

Mammoet specializes in engineered heavy lifting and transport, with specialized equipment that ensured the maneuvering of the orange MSS.

For updates on the building of the new Gerald Desmond Bridge, visit the website here. Visit the map here for the latest closures and detours.