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The first of 77 pontoons that will be used to hold up the 520 Bridge cleared the Ballard Locks Saturday evening. Officials at the state Department of Transportation say the operation went smoothly - and if you don’t believe them, they’ve got an eye-catching time-lapse video to prove it, squeezing a 45-minute venture into little more than 60 seconds.

“It looked really good – plenty of room to get through there and it made it all the way,” said Ryan Bianchi, a DOT spokesman.

The pontoon, 75 feet wide, approached the 80-foot lock at about 6 p.m. and made its exit about 45 minutes later, according to the DOT.

The pontoons, built in Aberdeen and Tacoma, will support the 7,710-foot-long floating bridge that goes across Lake Washington.

The second pontoon is expected to arrive at the locks Monday evening. You can track it online, by going here and searching for the tug “Ocean Ranger.”

The DOT has also posted pictures of the pontoon operation on Flickr, available here.