Work began Wednesday on removing a heavily-damaged 2,000-ton girder on the causeway connecting Kansai International Airport to the mainland, with the aim of having railway operations on the bridge resume by the end of the month.
The girder and 3,750-meter-long bridge suffered damage on Sept. 4 when Typhoon Jebi, the most powerful typhoon to hit the country in 25 years, slammed a 2,591-ton tanker into the bridge, partially destroying road lanes and railway tracks on the structure. The causeway provides the only access to the airport built on a man-made island in Osaka Bay.
West Nippon Expressway Co., better known as NEXCO West, plans to finish removing the girder by Friday using a 107-meter-long crane ship, with the damaged part then being transported to a plant in Wakayama Prefecture to see if it can be reused.
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