Lifting a 255 ton bridge is just as much work as it sounds.

A team of workers put in more than 12 hours yesterday lifting the Genesee Valley Transportation bridge that runs over the south end of Cedar Street -- the ones the trucks always hit -- exactly 36 inches.

Lifting the bridge took a mere 20 minutes. All of the other hours went into getting the hydraulic lifts -- called gantry lifts -- precisely into the their proper locations.

Raising the bridge is part of the Cedar Street reconstruction project. When the project is done, the bridge will provide a clearance of 14' 3" for trucks to pass under.

That's a foot higher than the former height and two feet higher than the sign on the bridge indicated.

The iron bridge was built some time around 1918 for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
Kevin Seely, project manager for Tonawanda-based Hohl Industrial, led the project. The other four workers were Carl Larson, Adam Swanson, Chris Wells and Fred Howry.