VIDEO – Explosive blast apart redundant US bridge

July 13, 2015
The Donora-Webster Bridge over the Monongahela River in the US has been demolished using explosives. The ageing structure spanned the Monongahela River, connecting Washington and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1908 and originally carried a rail link but in 1938 the tracks were removed and the structure was modified so that it could handle motor vehicle traffic instead. The Donora-Webster Bridge linked Route 837 on the west side of the Monongahela River with Route 906 on the east bank. The bridge was then closed to vehicle traffic in 2009 because the structural deficiencies had been identified by the local authorities. Despite being designated a historic bridge by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation, the Donora-Webster Bridge was earmarked for demolition. The contractor used close to 32.7kg of explosives placed at 387 separate points around the structure so as to break up its structural integrity, resulting in it crashing into the river below in a successfully controlled demolition.

Related Content

  • Challenging bridge demolition
    March 2, 2012
    DEMOLITION and blasting experts Philipp Halter of Berlin, Germany, faced a challenging job: in just 48 hours it had to demolish the southern section of the Spandau Dam Bridge crossing the A 100. The efficient interaction of Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers and hydraulic CombiCutters, mounted on seven Volvo excavators, is said to have played a crucial role after following a carefully planned schedule. During Friday night a bed of sand was placed under the bridge to allow the girders and reinforcements torn dow
    Read More
  • Demolition starts for Gerald Desmond Bridge
    July 14, 2022
    The 125m-long span will be dismantled, cut and lowered onto a barge in the waters around the Port of Long Beach in the US state of California.
    Read More
  • Launch soon for the Sunderland Bridge’s deck across the Wear
    March 24, 2017
    The team constructing the New Wear Crossing near the English city of Sunderland is preparing for the final launch of the 300m bridge deck. In recent weeks, the legs of the 100m-tall centrepiece have been secured to the foundations within the riverbed and most of the rigging used to raise it into place has been removed. While the bridge deck was being painted, the bottoms of both pylon legs were filled with 175tonnes of concrete, The next major process will be to slowly pull the bridge deck out acr
    Read More
  • Damaged Norwegian bridge undergoes successful demolition
    February 23, 2015
    A demolition team has successfully demolished the damaged southern lane of the Skjeggestad Bridge in Norway. Located in Vestfold, the bridge was damaged some weeks ago when the ground around its foundations slipped. The explosive demolition project was technically challenging due to the proximity of the bridge carrying the northern lanes but did go to plan according to Norway’s Public Roads Administration (NPRA). Initial plans to repair the Skjeggestad Bridge proved impractical and the decision was made to
    Read More

Highlighted Content