Bang: big bridge blocking boulder broken by blasting

Following a recent earthquake in China, the roads and highways had to be cleared quickly to allow emergency deliveries, as well as general transport. One key bridge was blocked by a massive boulder that had been dislodged by the quake. As the boulder was too large to move using the excavators or bulldozers that the bridge could support, a decision was made to use blasting instead to clear the path. A drilling rig was brought into place and this machine bored a blasthole into the errant boulder, with the hol
April 24, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Following a recent earthquake in China, the roads and highways had to be cleared quickly to allow emergency deliveries, as well as general transport. One key bridge was blocked by a massive boulder that had been dislodged by the quake. As the boulder was too large to move using the excavators or bulldozers that the bridge could support, a decision was made to use blasting instead to clear the path. A drilling rig was brought into place and this machine bored a blasthole into the errant boulder, with the hole then being charged with conventional explosives. The blast then broke the boulder into pieces small enough for lighter machinery to move out of the way, allowing the bridge to be reopened to traffic.

Related Content

  • The world’s longest suspension bridge
    June 24, 2024
    The world’s longest suspension bridge is the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey. This engineering marvel links Gelibolu with Lapseki, forming a key section of the 101km highway linking Malkara with Çanakkale. *Article produced in partnership with the General Directorate of Highways (KGM), Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Republic of Türkiye.
    Read More
  • Fast-track Biloxi Bay bridge
    July 18, 2012
    Construction of a bridge destroyed in a hurricane was completed early, and with some added aesthetic benefits Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in US history, made landfall on 29 August, 2005, devastating the Gulf Coast. The US 90 Bridge over Biloxi Bay (connecting the communities of Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Mississippi) was one of many major highway and railroad bridges knocked out of service due to extensive storm damage. The eye of the storm passed 96km west of Bilo
    Read More
  • Booming Chinese aggregate demand
    February 22, 2013
    Global demand for construction aggregates is set to increase 5.2% a year until 2015 to 48.3 billion tonnes, according to research by The Freedonia Group in the United States. The same source tips China alone to account for half of all new aggregate demand worldwide in the period 2010-2015. Guy Woodford reports on the growing importance of the Asian aggregates market. China is already the biggest nation for aggregate production and use in the world, and the competition among the giants of aggregate productio
    Read More
  • Explosive demolition of US421 bridge over Ohio River
    September 23, 2013
    The fourth and final section of the Milton-Madison Bridge in the US has now been demolished. This aged 740m long structure was no longer able to cope with the traffic volumes along the route and has been demolished to make way for a new bridge. The bridge connects the US states of Indiana and Kentucky and has provided a key traffic route for the busy US421 over the Ohio River for many years. In a rather innovative piece of engineering, the new bridge has been constructed alongside the old structure and even
    Read More

Highlighted Content