Watching that bridge when they come to it

Mike McGee turned philosophical as he watched a construction crane hoist a 70,000-pound, 85-foot-long concrete girder onto what will become the Cimarron Street bridge over the railway tracks downtown.

A train thundered down the tracks, steam from the power plant filled the skyline, and here was yet another reminder of man’s technological attainments, McGee said.

In terms of visuals, though, the whole thing was kind of, well, a little boring, actually.

“It’s not very exciting is it?” McGee said quietly during one lull, keeping his eyes on the handful of construction workers assisting the crane operator atop the structure. “You’ve seen one crane, you’ve seen them all.”

To mark the latest phase of the $8.5 million bridge project — five days of placing girders — the city put up a small set of bleachers at the south end of America The Beautiful Park and invited the public to drop by as “girder gazers.”

Work crews on Friday morning began placing the 48 girders that will support the Cimarron Street bridge deck. The bridge is due to open to four lanes of traffic by May 15. Bike lanes, sidewalks and decorative features are supposed to be complete sometime in August.

The publicity stunt drew a rotating audience of a halfdozen spectators at a time over the lunch hour Friday — among them retirees, amateur photographers, a Colorado Springs police crime analyst, and a pair of bikers who stopped on their way to a bar.

“I think it’s fascinating,” said Stephen Martinez of Colorado Springs, a construction worker who helped build bridges in Montana and still enjoys watching civic projects unfold — the bigger, the better.

Dan Vince of Colorado Springs sat on his motorcycle and worked to persuade a fellow biker and soon-to-be drinking buddy that this was a worthwhile diversion.

“Just think of the strength of those cables,” Vince said, before recalling his own experiences years ago hauling conveyor tables from the gold mine in Thornton — a process so involved his truck could travel no more than 4 mph during a maximum of two trips a day.

His friend was unmoved.

“That’s a large Erector set for big kids,” he said. “This is a serious interference.”

Charles Neel came for a walk in the park and dropped by just long enough to get a keen sense of how much has changed in his lifetime. The retiree thought aloud about the computers used by the bridge engineers.

“They can do it these days without getting out a sliderule, which puts an age on me, I guess,” he said before heading back toward the park.

For some, this was an educational experience — and a chance to spend a little quality time with family. Several groups came in vehicles, avoiding the bleachers and parking closer to the action.

“We’re home-schoolers,” said Michelle Morin of Colorado Springs, with 2-monthold son Dawson in her arms and three other children in a minivan. “We just had a busy week and wanted to come down and do something.”

Mike Coletta, a media blogger who also focuses on emergencies and breaking news events, said he took a few interesting photographs Friday afternoon but his expectations went unmet.

“I was hoping it would tip over and not hurt anybody,” he said.

Crews are expected to be placing girders beginning at 7 a.m. for the next several days, except Sunday.