One of the final sections of the Self-Anchored Suspension Span (SAS) Tower of the new eastern Bay Bridge section is getting hoisted into place this week, and is sure to create some distraction for drivers. For their part, Caltrans says, they hope "that motorists continue to mind traffic as they’re going across the bridge," even though the exciting work is going to be happening at their eye level.

The process started today, and will be complete by week's end, with the tower reaching 480 feet tall -- almost at its completed height of 525 feet. Caltrans has some construction cameras and a handy diagram showing how one lifts a 2.3 million-pound piece of tower into place.

As it stands, this thing still won't be finished until 2013, several months ahead of schedule. The next detour on the existing span will be put in place on the lower deck in May, with lanes pushed to the south to make room for the new westbound approach.