Bridge replacements are far from uncommon (though, arguably, should be more commonplace) and shipping in prefabricated bridge pieces is also commonly used. However, shipping in an entire 2,400 ton (or, 4,800 kip, for us U.S. engineers) bridge is a little more of a spectacle.
That's just what New York did last summer when it replaced the Willis Avenue Bridge over the Harlem river. Photographer and film maker, Stephen Mallon, was there to capture the entire thing and produced this terrific, time-lapse film of the process of shipping and placing the structure.
According to Wired.com:
The new bridge .. was shipped 136 miles on a pair of barges welded together. This gorgeous time-lapse film shows the installation.
The bridge was completed and opened to traffic Oct. 2, 2010. Although the $612 million it cost more than doubled the original estimate, the span was finished ahead of schedule. The New York City Department of Transportation says the four-lane span carries approximately 75,000 vehicles per day.
Phenomenal!