By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

A magician on one of those TV talent competition shows recently reached into his bag of tricks and turned 200 Rubik’s Cubes into an image of Brad Pitt. The judges were amazed.

What ADOT crews are doing with a bridge in southeast Arizona may not make Simon howl, but it’s every bit as magical. They’re replacing a 61-year-old bridge with a wider, better bridge – without ever stopping traffic from using the old one. And they’ll do it right before your eyes.

We’re replacing the old two-lane Santa Cruz River bridge on State Route 92 between Sierra Vista and Bisbee. The bridge, built in 1955, no longer meets modern bridge standards.

The bridge will only be closed one day at the start of the work so crews can prepare the bridge for one-way traffic. For the next eight months, traffic will move on one side of the bridge while ADOT crews do their magic below the other side.

Don’t worry; we’ve done this before, on the SR 90 a few miles to the north. Girders stay in place to support traffic while we replace the piers and build a new, wider deck.

Why are we doing it this way? This approach will spare drivers a potentially long and difficult detour. There is a one-lane bridge a few miles away on Hereford Road, but the next-closest bridge is on SR 90, an inconvenient route for people who live near the border.

By next summer, the old bridge will be gone, a new one will be in its place and not once will SR 92 drivers have been without their bridge.

Abracadabra.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Last week we shared how the ADOT Motor Vehicle Division office in west Phoenix has been turned into a laboratory of sorts to test ways of reducing customer wait times. We'll be sharing many stories from that laboratory in the coming months.

But this important effort on 51st Avenue is just one part of ADOT's commitment to continuous improvement.

For example, we shared today how MVD took a six-hour application process for owners of taxi, livery vehicle and limousine companies and streamlined it to just 10 minutes. That's right: 10 minutes.

Tom Opalka, MVD's commercial driver license, medical review and vehicle for hire program manager, explains it this way:

“We took an outdated, inefficient application process and applied modern technology and methods to it.”

This is the essence of continuous improvement, and it reflects a commitment involving this entire agency, including those of us in ADOT Communications. A fun way to think about this effort, and an example we're using at ADOT, is the video above showing how auto racing pit stops have advanced from 1950 to today. It's two minutes long, but the ending and lesson are well worth the wait.

When we announced last week that the State Transportation Board has approved ADOT's five-year construction program for state highways, we shared two key ways our agency will measure how it's answering Governor Ducey's call for state government to continuously improve its value to Arizonans:

• Bridges: ADOT strives to keep the percentage of highway bridges rated in good or fair condition at 95 percent or more.
• Pavement: ADOT aims to increase interstate highway rated in good condition from 73 percent to 80 percent as measured by smoothness.

These are among the key performance indicators ADOT will use to measure its continuous improvement as an agency. We will tell these stories as well. But there are many, many other indicators – and ways we are working to improve results – across ADOT's various functions.

This is an exciting way of looking at how we do business at ADOT. We look forward to sharing this story with you.

By Timothy Tait / ADOT Communications

The two women look out over the Little Colorado River, pointing into the distance, northward, at destinations yet to come on their journey of northern Arizona. They are standing next to the now iconic US 89 bridge at Cameron, its modern suspension design contrasted against the smooth cliffs, hiding the river below.

While the postcard wasn’t mailed, in neat cursive on the back, the traveler wrote of her adventure:

“Just across the street from where we ate, at Cameron, Ariz.”

The scene is documented on a picture postcard, perhaps from the 1940s, that came to me from a relative who hunts for antiques – in Michigan. Who the women are remains a mystery, their destination and journey concealed by time. How did a postcard of two women from the ‘40s documenting their visit to Arizona end up in Michigan before returning back to Arizona? Who snapped the photo? We’ll probably never know of their adventure or the path this postcard took before landing at ADOT. But it’s fun to wonder.

Bridge over Little Colorado River

Here’s what we do know: That iconic bridge, constructed in 1911, still stands today, carrying not traffic but utility lines over the Little Colorado River. While its usefulness as a traffic bridge has long ended, it continues serving Arizona faithfully. ADOT recently completed a new, wider bridge over the Little Colorado River, replacing a 1958 bridge that was built to accommodate construction traffic for the Glen Canyon Dam.

Historic Cameron Trading Post

Travelers today are still stopping at the historic Cameron Trading Post for a bite to eat and souvenirs before continuing their journey. And that new bridge at Cameron will serve traffic for decades to come, shuttling travelers across the gorge protecting the Little Colorado River on their way to … adventure.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

In a little more than a month you’ll be able to drive along the new bridge on Interstate 15 through the scenic Virgin River Gorge in northwest Arizona. We thought you might want to see what you’ll be driving on.

This time-lapse video was shot as crews worked in difficult conditions from November through late February to build a southbound span at Virgin River Bridge No. 6. You can see traffic passing in both directions on the northbound span, which was completed last year. Meanwhile, the slideshow below offers stunning images of this project.

Here’s what it takes: Dozens of steel girders, moved into place by huge cranes. Layer after layer of base to support the roadway. Pouring the bridge deck. Adding the surface and the striping. And something you don’t see: Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers keeping drivers safe on the temporarily divided northbound lanes.

Two years of work is just about to come to an end. For most drivers, the bridge may look like just a simple structure. Watching the video, you can see that building a bridge, especially in an environment like the Virgin River Gorge, is anything but.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

Today we’re taking you on a drive through Cameron on US 89 north of Flagstaff. The top half of this video takes you back to 2014, not long after ADOT started a $38 million improvement project. The bottom half shows the same route now that many of the upgrades are complete.

The project started with the removal and replacement of the US 89 Cameron Truss Bridge but expanded to include more than three miles of upgrades south of the bridge, which is near the State Route 64 junction about 50 miles north of Flagstaff.

As you can see, new features include two northbound lanes, two southbound lanes, a 16-foot wide raised median, sidewalks and a roundabout.

We’ve been documenting this project since it began. Below is a look at the latest photos, but the entire collection can be found on the ADOT Flickr page. The project should be complete by fall.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

A new State Route 89 Hell Canyon Bridge is in the works north of Chino Valley. While the name often leads to a few jokes, we promise the bridge will have heavenly features. The slideshow above shows how crews have been working to complete the bridge.

On Friday, May 13, SR 89 will close for the deck pour from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. Saturday. Drivers need to plan ahead because the road will be closed in both directions.

The $14.4 million project will replace the existing 1954 bridge with a 665-foot, four-span steel-plate girder bridge. It's located east of the existing bridge and will be approximately 47 feet wide, 17 feet wider than the current bridge. The bridge will be able to handle heavier loads, ensuring that commercial trucks can conveniently carry goods and produce to their final destinations.

Check out the time-lapse of the bridge girders going up.