Inspectors spent much of the day yesterday looking at the underside of the Birmingham Bridge connecting Pittsburgh's South Side with Oakland. The state Department of Transportation District 11 is advising motorists that the bridge, which closed early Friday, will remain fully closed for approximately two weeks.

The continued closure is necessary to allow crews to repair the southbound bridge span and pier that shifted on Friday and conduct a thorough re-inspection of the complete structure. Crews have been working around the clock to install temporary jacks and shoring in the areas where the shift occurred on the north end of the span.

PennDOT's contractor, Trumbull Corp. of West Mifflin, is erecting shoring towers on both sides of the shifted southbound pier. Once the towers are constructed, they will be used to support the weight of the bridge, allowing the shifted span to be moved back into its correct position. As a precaution, temporary jacks are also being installed under the northbound span in this area.

Inspection efforts are progressing well, but have been hampered by high winds, which for safety reasons, do not allow use of the crane. No additional concerns have been found; PennDOT officials believe the problem is localized at the pier that shifted Friday. The cause has not been identified.