Explosive demolition of US421 bridge over Ohio River

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
September 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
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 using the same supports. This made the demolition particularly tricky due to the very close proximity of the new structure, now being used to carry traffic, to the old bridge. Traffic was halted during the explosive demolition, which was highly successful with the remnants of the old structure falling where planned and the new link being undamaged by the blasting work. With the old structure removed, the new and much wider bridge can now be slid directly over the old supports. This work will be carried out once the existing supports have been strengthened and modified. When the new link is in place over the supports, the restrictions on the size of vehicles using the bridge will then be lifted.

Thanks to 6755 Demolition News for alerting us to this story.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New Ohio River Bridge project
    April 9, 2021
    Work is planned for the new Ohio River Bridge project.
    Read More
  • Demolition underway on bridge structure in Cleveland, Ohio
    June 9, 2014
    Demolition work is progressing on track on the old Innerbelt Bridge in the US city of Cleveland and spanning the Cuyahoga River. At present a demolition contractor is breaking up the structure in stages, using cutting gear and cranes to remove portions of the bridge in a phased programme of works. Once the demolition moves to a certain stage in a few months, the contractor will then be able to use explosives to demolish the remaining structure. Four of the truss bridge’s nine spans are being dismantled usi
    Read More
  • Explosive demolition works for US Bridge
    January 19, 2015
    A successful explosive demolition project for an old bridge has been carried out in the US state of Missouri. The Fairfax Bridge was constructed in 1935 and was no longer able to meet current transportation needs. Some 760m long the bridge was carrying around 6,000 vehicles/day. Another bridge was also opened nearby, the Platte Purchase Bridge, in 1957 to help the original structure carry the necessary traffic volumes. Removing the old structure of the Fairfax Bridge as well as the Platte Purchase Bridge and replacing them with a new bridge is costing around US$79 million.
    Read More
  • Washington DC’s historic bridge replacement project
    June 11, 2019
    The project to replace a historic bridge in US capital Washington DC is providing major challenges for its builders - Mike Woof writes
    Read More

Highlighted Content