Video of the very-first girder being installed on the monumental conservation structure is available for download HERE.
Download the newly released renderings of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing HERE.
Agoura Hills – The #SaveLACougars campaign is very excited to announce that this Wednesday, April 17th at approximately 2:30 a.m. – construction crews successfully installed the first girder and very first level of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing’s multilayered span above and across the 101-freeway in the City of Agoura Hills, near Los Angeles. When it’s completed, the visionary crossing will be the largest of its kind in the world, a first in California, and a global model for urban wildlife conservation.
“Watching the first horizontal girder placed over the freeway tonight, surrounded by our “championship team” of partners who helped make the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing a reality, was cathartic. We all cheered when the crane lowered the first concrete beam across the freeway, as we truly saw the bridge starting to take shape. This structure is a testament to us all wanting a future for wildlife and mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains,” said Beth Pratt, California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation.
The girder installation process began on Tuesday, April 16th at 11:00 p.m. and required the overnight closure of all southbound lanes on the 101-freeway between Chesebro Road and Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills. The closures will continue to occur nightly, Monday through Friday – for five hours every night – through the duration of the girder placement process. Only one direction of the 101 freeway will be completely closed at a time. All lanes in the opposite direction will remain open for traffic.
The process of installing all of the girders – 82 in total – across all ten lanes of the 101 freeway, is expected to take from thirty to forty-five days to complete. The girders, which are long boxes of reinforced concrete, are the first level of the wildlife crossing’s span across one of the nation’s busiest freeways. The girders that will be installed over the southbound lanes are each more than 93 feet long and weigh over 126 tons. Each girder that will be placed over the northbound lanes is 103 feet long and weighs 140 tons. For context, the weight of just one girder is equivalent to the weight of more than 14 African elephants.
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a monumental conservation structure that will help wildlife travel safely across one of the busiest highways in the United States, support local biodiversity, expand refuge for critical pollinator species, and prevent the extinction of the local mountain lion population. Beyond the robust engineering it relies on, a sophisticated ecological restoration plan will create a habitat across the surface of the crossing and in approximately 12 acres of open space, alongside it. These new native wildlife habitats will reinforce the biodiversity of the Santa Monica Mountains and provide the shelter, food, and water the dozens of area wildlife species, need to thrive. The crossing will be the largest of its kind in the world, a first in California, and a global model for urban wildlife conservation.
Scheduled for completion at the end of 2025 or early 2026 – the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is the result of a public-private partnership of unprecedented scope that has leveraged the world-renowned expertise and leadership of dozens of individuals, organizations, and institutions.
Learn more about the #SaveLACougars campaign’s #P22Legacy phase here and The Wildlife Crossing Fund here. Access renderings of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, including drone footage over the construction site, here and follow progress on the visionary structure by visiting its dedicated website at www.101wildlifecrossing.org
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The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization with over 6 million supporters nationwide, uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To learn more about the #SaveTheCougars campaign to build the Wildlife Crossing at Liberty Canyon visit https://savelacougars.org/