zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Beyond Cars
/
Watch Crews Move a 5.3-Million-Pound Bridge 110 Feet Using Dish Soap
Watch Crews Move a 5.3-Million-Pound Bridge 110 Feet Using Dish Soap-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:13:49

The Utah Department of Transportation posted a video of a huge freeway overpass sliding down the freeway last week using teflon skid plates and a little drizzle of something you likely have in your home: dish soap. It’s a study on how something common and unassuming and make a huge impact when used effectively.

UDOT posted this video to its Instagram page of the massive piece of infrastructure moving down the road in the middle of the night.

Dish soap is a key component to moving these massive concrete and steel structures. Some background from

The bridge slid into place using hydraulic jacks attached to bolt devices placed underneath the bridge. Due to its slippery coating and ability to adhere, Dawn dish soap was used to cover the sliding devices — Teflon pads — placed between bridge and span abutments.

The bridge’s concrete was made with fibers to give it extra binding strength to extend the life of the structure.

Bridge slides are great not just because the process is quick an oh, so satisfying but because the process helps cut down on traffic impacts. Crews build the new bridge next to the old bridge and then demolish the old bridge. The new bridge then slides into place on teflon skids greased with that world famous de-greaser, Dawn dish soap. Here’s a cool run down on how it works:

This isn’t the first time Utah has used soap to slip a huge piece of infrastructure down the road a piece. A few months ago, UDOT posted a smaller, 1.1-million-pound bridge doing the Concrete Slide down I-15 in Cedar City, Utah:

It looks like it doesn’t even take all that much dish soap to move the bridge. That’s a pretty average-sized bottle being used by this crew with the 1.1 million pound bridge.

A bottle of dish soap sits on a bridge during construction.

So just remember; when you’re feeling average, maybe insignificant and powerless, you might just not be in the right place to make the really big moves.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Beyond Cars
This Is Why You Don't Road Rage On Two Wheels
This Is Why You Don't Road Rage On Two Wheels
When riding a motorcycle, its normally assumed that you are invisible to every other driver on the road and a grain of salt must be taken when your path is violated. This biker just couldn't let it drop when his lane was breached by a white sedan and he paid...
Nov 7, 2025
Horrific Midair Collision During Air Show And Arms Expo In Malaysia
Horrific Midair Collision During Air Show And Arms Expo In Malaysia
Indonesia's, which flies experienced a horrific crash yesterday during a practice run for Malaysia's Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA). Astonishingly, all four pilots are reported to have survived the collision. The event occurred as two of the team's KT-1 aircraft (similar to a Pilatus PC-9) were approaching each...
Nov 7, 2025
Confessions Of A US Navy Blue Angel
Confessions Of A US Navy Blue Angel
They are one of the most iconic performance groups in existence, amazing millions yearly. Their shows feature seemingly super-human levels of precision. Now, one of them is going to tell you what it's like to don the blue flight suit as part of the elite of the elite, as a...
Nov 7, 2025
This Secret USCG Program Saw Exotic Armed Choppers Take On Fast Boats
This Secret USCG Program Saw Exotic Armed Choppers Take On Fast Boats
In the late 1990s the US Coast Guard was constantly being outrun by cartels 'go-fast' drug smuggling boats. Enter a secret program dubbed "New Frontier" that saw the use of a new breed of helicopters and interceptor boats, launched from cutters far out at sea, that aimed to fight the...
Nov 7, 2025
Motorcycle Maniac Leads Police Chase Right Through Wal-Mart And Escapes
Motorcycle Maniac Leads Police Chase Right Through Wal-Mart And Escapes
Royal Canadian Mounted Police tried to stop an unidentified motorcyclist for reckless driving when the dude ran for it, leading cops all over the city of Surrey and straight through the front door of Wal-Mart and down escalators. Oh yeah; he got away and cops still can't find him. The...
Nov 7, 2025
This Is How You Hand-Launch A U-2 Spy Plane After It Loses A Wheel
This Is How You Hand-Launch A U-2 Spy Plane After It Loses A Wheel
The It relies on fall-away "pogo" wheels that work as outriggers for its long wings during taxi and takeoff. Apparently, these wheels fall off prematurely from time to time. Easy fix! Just get out on the runway and hold the wing while the U-2 goes to full power, than try...
Nov 7, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved