Skip to main content

Pittsburgh bridge blasted

Explosive demolition has been used to remove an old highway bridge in Pennsylvania. Some 90kg of explosives were used to blast the pre-weakened steel structure of the 87 year-old Masontown Bridge. The redundant steel truss structure lay just 3m from the new bridge now carrying Route 21 over the Monongahela River and connecting Masontown with Monongahela Township. The location of the explosives and the pre-weakening work carried out however meant that the old structure, built in 1925 and upgraded in 1933, fe
October 7, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Explosive demolition has been used to remove an old highway bridge in Pennsylvania. Some 90kg of explosives were used to blast the pre-weakened steel structure of the 87 year-old Masontown Bridge. The redundant steel truss structure lay just 3m from the new bridge now carrying Route 21 over the Monongahela River and connecting Masontown with Monongahela Township. The location of the explosives and the pre-weakening work carried out however meant that the old structure, built in 1925 and upgraded in 1933, fell as planned and without any damage to the new bridge. Traffic was halted on Route 21 for the blast.

Related Content

  • Kentucky’s 1931 Ledbetter road Bridge comes to an explosive end
    October 1, 2014
    Specialist demolition contractors working for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet have successfully brought down one truss span of the Old Ledbetter Bridge near Paducah. The bridge has been taking traffic across the Mississippi River since 1931. Boat traffic on the Tennessee River was halted for about 90 minutes by the U.S. Coast Guard. KYTC said there were several audible warning signals, then a countdown, followed by a flash and puff of smoke from the explosive charges. As sound of the explosion echoed a
  • VIDEO: Bridge demolition on key A90 route in Scotland
    November 4, 2015
    Demolition work has been carried out on a bridge crossing the busy A90 route in Scotland, just to the north of the capital, Edinburgh. The bridge carried the B900 over the A90 but had to be removed as its narrow design prevented the route from being upgraded to full motorway status. The first stage of the demolition work was carried out on October 24th and 25th, with the second stage on October 31st and November 1st and final remedial work to be carried out on November 14th and 15th.
  • 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
  • German bridge demolition work assisted by Liebherr
    May 9, 2022
    Construction equipment from Liebherr has played an important role in the project to demolish a bridge in Germany.