Part of the west approach to the Liberty Memorial Bridge is coming down, reducing the number of lanes from four to two.

The demolition is necessary to allow room for piling to be put in for the west approach of the new bridge, according to Department of Transportation's Mike Kopp. The portion of the west approach being torn down was constructed in 1991. In no way will the demolition effect the support of the remainder of the approach.

General contractor Lunda Construction began pouring concrete into the cofferdam for pier eight, the second pier in the river to be built. Workers are currently working inside the cofferdam for pier 7, tying down steel for support.

"They're actually pouring cement for the seal of pier 8 from the shore. It's sent through a pipe along the bridge into the cofferdam," Kopp described. "Once the seal is set, the cofferdam will be pumped dry and workers will descend to the bottom to put in steel for the pier support. In a matter of weeks we'll start to see pier 7 come out of the water and shortly thereafter, pier 8."

More than 800 cubic yards of concrete will be poured into the bottom of pier 8 to form the seal, which will be 36 feet from the surface of the river.

River conditions continue to improve as boaters adhere to the no-wake rules and the river has gone down slightly. Last week worries were that the river would flow over the top of the cofferdam for pier 7, as it came within less than an inch of the top of the walls.

"In a couple of weeks the Army Corps of Engineers will be reducing its flows from Garrison Dam and we expect to see the river reduce in height as much as 3 feet," Kopp said. "Next week we're going to see a lot of concrete poured, but the work will be very much dependent on the weather."

The Corps had increased flows along the Missouri in an effort to reduce effects the drought has had on Lake Oahe.

While it appears motorists have begun to adapt to the changes in traffic routes on the Mandan side of the bridge, there are still a few glitches in the system.

"Drivers coming off of Bismarck Expressway, exiting to the stop light at Memorial Highway and 46th Avenue and wanting to make a left turn to drive east across the bridge have been turning into westbound traffic," Kopp said. "It's sort of like a mini-demolition derby, but we haven't had any serious accidents… so far. People seem to be slowly figuring it out."

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 701-250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)