Link-Belt all-terrain pair lifts Arizona canal bridge sections

The project, led by the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), saw two ageing bridges over the Salt River Project Tempe Canal, east of Loop 101 and Broadway Road, taken out and replaced by a single new structure carrying traffic in both directions.

Tandem picks over the canal

Phoenix-based Marco Crane & Rigging Co. supplied and operated both machines. The 300|AT, Link-Belt’s 300-US-ton (272-tonne) class all-terrain, worked alongside the 275-US-ton (250-tonne) ATC-3275, with the pair picking and placing the precast concrete bridge sections in tandem.

Tandem lifting over a live canal left little room for error: each section had to be walked into position with both cranes sharing the load, keeping the precast units level as they were landed on the new substructure.

Two bridges become one

Rather than renewing the two existing structures like for like, MCDOT opted to consolidate them into one wider bridge handling both directions of traffic. That simplified the long-term maintenance picture for the county while the staged construction kept traffic moving around the site during the works.

Construction began in September 2025 and the new bridge was completed in the spring of 2026, closing out another infrastructure job for Marco’s all-terrain fleet in the Phoenix metropolitan area.