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The latest phase of the years-long process of building a new Sellwood Bridge is removing the old one. With the new, 1,976-foot-long, steel-deck arch bridge now up and operational, crews with Emmert International will spend the next few months removing sections of the old, four-span continuous truss bridge that for nearly a century connected the Sellwood neighborhood with Southwest Portland.

On Friday, the first of four sections was cut free, lowered with hydraulic jacks and hauled away by barge. The concrete has been stripped off the old green bridge, and all that remains is a skeleton about 18 to 20 feet tall.

Because the bridge is historic, the county was required to ask the public if anyone wanted all or part of it. Since no one responded to the offer, the contractor assumed control of the bridge. The scrap dealer in this case is Schnitzer Steel, a Portland metals recycler. The bridge will likely be shredded and then taken to a different facility to be melted down.

鈥淭he value of that steel is built into the demolition cost, so it’s not like a windfall of money to the contractor; it’s kind of built into the cost,鈥� said Mike Pullen, spokesman for Multnomah County, the entity in charge of most Portland-area bridges. 鈥淚f they had found someone who wanted the bridge, they would have made a lot of money.鈥�

That person would have gotten the bridge for free, but they would have needed a plan to move it safely and without harming the environment. There were a few bites, Pullen said, but no serious offers.

鈥淲e had a few international inquiries, and I think some things were lost in translation,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got an inquiry from Germany and the guy wanted us to send the bridge to Africa for him. I think he thought we would deliver it for free, which is not the case.鈥�

Heavy-haul specialist Emmert is an engineering firm known for moving overweight and oversize cargo, notably a NASA Space Shuttle External Tank, several 640-ton steam generators for nuclear reactors, and a ferry boat 鈥� from Utah to Canada.

Planning for the project to replace the Sellwood Bridge began in 2006. Though the new bridge is operational, work will continue through the summer. In July, in-water work can begin for the season. Hundreds of support pieces and piles buried in the riverbed must be removed. And on the river’s west side, the contractor 鈥� a joint venture between Stayton and Sundt 鈥� is working on a bicycle/pedestrian pathway set to open later this month.