Scott Stover delivered his load for Garrison Hauling Co. and sits on a concrete cap, waiting. Behind him, a hill leads down to the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and his Mack truck is poised on the hill’s steep slope.
Attached to Stover’s truck is a 129-foot, 120,000-pound concrete support beam. A bulldozer attached with a cable to the front of the truck helps prevent it from sliding down into the river. Stover has already climbed atop the beam and unhooked one end so that a crane could lift the beam. The lift failed, leaving Stover and the other crew members to wait while the bridge contractor analyzed the problem.
Asked when the beam would be lifted, Stover shrugs and grins. He explains that R.R. Dawson Bridge Co., of Bessemer, Ala., will move the crane to a different location on the hill hoping for better leverage. If the crane still can’t lift the beam, a larger crane will be brought in.
“Waiting is all in a day’s work,” Stover says. “Welcome to the life of a beam hauler. But it’s not Dawson’s fault. They’re top-of-the-line in bridge builders.”
Stover, of Clanton, Ala., has delivered beams for Garrison Hauling, of Thorsby, Ala., for nine years. He is one of six drivers who delivered the concrete beams that will be used to build a bridge across the Black Warrior River.
The company has six trucks, and eight beams were delivered on the first day. After two trucks were unloaded, the truckers drove back to Sherman Industries in Pelham, Ala., to bring two more beams to Tuscaloosa. The truckers estimated it would take a week to transport all the beams.
The beams were to be placed on caps atop pilings that rise out of the river. Twelve of the beams were going to be placed on one side of the bridge and 16 on the other side, Stover says. The concrete beams are placed cap-to-cap up to the water’s edge. At that point, steel beams will be used because steel doesn’t deteriorate as much as concrete when placed over water.
