AT&T Catenary Support System Across Interstate 5 at Beach Boulevard

Project Description:  This project constructed the communications systems for the final section of Orange County’s original Measure M Improvement Program. The project, known as the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) Gateway Project, widened the final two miles of the I-5 Freeway between the Riverside Freeway (SR-91) and the Los Angeles County line. W.A. Rasic Construction was contracted to temporarily suspend the existing communication lines above the freeway while the old bridge was demolished, and then reinstall the lines into the new bridge. To do this without interrupting service, W.A. Rasic Construction erected a 45-foot-tall wire catenary bridge on 26-foot-deep concrete reinforced piles that spanned 355 feet across Interstate 5. This temporary catenary bridge suspended the live cables, which carry approximately 20% of all communications for Orange County, three feet above the bridge deck during the demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new bridge. We constructed a temporary wooden enclosure around the communication cables to house and protect the communication cables during the bridge work. Once the new bridge was built, and just prior to pouring the bridge deck, we removed the wooden enclosure, installed a split conduit around the communication cables, and lowered them into their permanent location. Weekly adjustments were necessary to tension the system over the 11-month period the temporary catenary system was in place.