After welcoming visitors to the city of Ogden for 56 years, the Ogden River Bridge sign has come down.
On Monday, workers dismantled the 86-foot-long metal structure they had attached to a tall crane. Underneath them, the muddy Ogden River flowed turbulently.Jackhammers pounded violently into the pavement on the bridge, breaking it up to be hauled away to make room for a new span, to be completed this fall. Underneath the smashed asphalt of the old bridge a set of trolley tracks dating from the 1930s peeked out.
The huge neon sign, which spanned Washington Boulevard on the Ogden River Bridge between 18th and 19th streets, was constructed and first lit in 1936.
After cleaning, repainting and widening, the sign will reappear about 30 feet further north on the boulevard this fall, when a new bridge has been completed.
Neon lights, which haven't glowed in many years, will be repaired and lighted. The sign will be lengthened slightly to accommodate the new roadway.