ST. LOUIS — The pedestrian bridge above the Barnes-Jewish Plaza that was built in the 1980s will be demolished this weekend, causing a section of the plaza to be shut down.

Detours around the medical campus to the hospital’s main entrance will start Friday at 5 p.m. and will reopen before 6 a.m. Monday, according to a press release.

Depending on weather delays, work could continue over the weekends of Dec. 13 and 20. The project is not expected to take three weekends.

The demolition of the old bridge includes removing all of the glass and then dismantling the steel into pieces that will be lowered to the ground, according to the press release. The steel sections will be lowered as early as 6 a.m. on Saturday.

A newer and wider bridge, located next to the old one, opened in August 2014, according to the press release. It weighs 182,000 pounds, which is equivalent to roughly 690,000 stethoscopes.

The bridge connects people from the underground plaza garage to the lobby of the hospital, allowing them to enter the hospital without crossing traffic.

The old bridge is about 11 feet wide, while the newer one is approximately 40 feet at its widest point, a difference of about 13 wheelchairs side-by-side, according to the press release.

Underway at Barnes Jewish Hospital is a new 660,000 square-foot, 16-story inpatient hospital bed tower. Construction began in fall of 2021.

It will have private rooms for heart and vascular patients, state-of-the-art imaging, and the latest in surgical preparation and recovery, designed to advance care and enhance the experience for patients and their families.

The facility is set to open for patient care in the fall of 2025.