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

  • Out of sight
    July 16, 2012
    With traffic volumes increasing around the world, many existing road links will need to be upgraded or replaced in coming years The need for new road tunnels is particularly intense in many dense urban areas, due to environmental requirements that mean new road links will have to be installed underground. However, improving existing road tunnel links is providing a very large part of the business for this specialised construction segment at present.
    Read More
  • Sunderland’s New Wear Crossing takes shape
    February 16, 2017
    The New Wear Crossing will be the first bridge to be built over the River Wear in Sunderland, UK, for more than 40 years Raising the bridge’s 100m-tall pylon promised to be a stunning visual sight, but also a tricky operation dictated by extremely variable local weather. World Highways went to press just before the operation, but not before the pylon had arrived by barge on January 7. It had completed a two-day crossing of the often unpredictable North Sea from the Belgian port of Ghent where it was f
    Read More
  • A new highway for northern Colombia
    July 17, 2023
    The Pamplona-Cúcuta highway is playing an important role for the development of northern Colombia
    Read More
  • Turkey’s important new tunnel will improve transport links
    May 18, 2016
    Major advances in tunnelling will allow cars to travel underneath the Bosphorus sea channel in Turkey's Istanbul next year when its third road link is opened, writes Adrian Greeman. The Bosphorus is redolent with history and strategic significance. As one of the world's most significant sea connections, linking the landlocked Black Sea to the Marmara Sea and the Mediterranean beyond, it has been vitally important for trade and crucial for military access. It is also one of the biggest obstacles for land tra
    Read More

Highlighted Content