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A year ago this month, the Federal Transit Administration gave approval to the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) to authorize Kiewit Infrastructure West to begin design and construction of the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail bridge, the first bridge to be built over the Willamette River in more than 40 years.

During the past year, more than 1 million pages of calculations have gone into the bridge’s engineering, TriMet officials said in a prepared statement.

Other significant progress over the past year includes the securing of 34 federal, state and local permits to begin construction; the completion of all work in the four-month, in-water construction window; completion of drilling for the first shaft; and the placement of the rebar cage in two sections.

The 7.3-mile Portland-Milwaukie light-rail line is the region’s sixth MAX line to be built, and will extend from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University to South Waterfront, southeast Portland, Milwaukie and Park Avenue in Clackamus County. When it opens in 2015, the line will extend the MAX system to 60 miles, TriMet officials said.