There’s a saying that ‘the best vacations make the worst stories’.  If nothing goes wrong on your vacation, what do you tell your friends about?  You sat undisturbed on the beach for 6 hours before going inside to a good meal and a pleasant night’s sleep?  BORING!  The Sellwood Bridge construction presents the same problem.  We started this column to keep you up-to-date on major inconveniences or announcements you needed to know about, but there really hasn’t been much to talk about.  Construction just keeps percolating along without a hitch.  The bridge is open, traffic is flowing, and it’s completely safe.  It makes a very BORING story!

This month we decided to give you a glimpse behind-the-scenes at one of the things helping keep the project so blissfully boring.  The Sellwood Bridge reconstruction is mind-bogglingly complex, and uses state-of-the-art Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems in every aspect of the project.  It’s such a high-profile, in-depth CAD utilization that AutoDesk, the makers of the systems involved, is using it as a showpiece to highlight their product’s capabilities.  They created a 6-minute video showing the role CAD is playing in the design, simulation, scheduling, and communication of the project.  It’s well worth a look!

Multnomah County continues to maintain the definitive website on everything related to the Sellwood Bridge Replacement project at www.sellwoodbridge.org.  Construction and closure alerts, archived information, and other resources are all available 24/7 for your convenience.  If you’re looking for something that’s not on the website, you can contact Mike Pullen (mailto:mike.j.pullen@multco.us, 503-209-4111) or visit www.sellwoodbridge.org.