Kentucky’s 1931 Ledbetter road Bridge comes to an explosive end

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
October 1, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
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 along the river banks, KYTC said the steel truss dropped into about 30 feet (10m) of water below the bridge.

Once an all-clear was issued, river traffic was allowed to resume and a crane was moved in to start pulling steel from the river. The constractor believes it should take about 48 hours to remove the steel and place it on barges to be hauled to a scrap yard.

See it happen on the video below, which was forwarded to World Highways by Demolition News website:
Road Structures Engines, Components & Tyres

Related Content

  • New bridge link for Oregon-Washington
    April 25, 2012
    The US Department of Transportation has given the go-ahead for the I-5 Columbia River Crossing project, which will link Washington and Oregon states. The plans involve replacing the existing Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing Bridges and building a new interstate transit link.
    Read More
  • New machinery helps boost quarry production
    July 28, 2015
    A quarry in the US has managed to boost production by around 30%, thanks to the acquisition of new equipment. Replacing the old crusher at the Lafarge Pitt River Quarry has made a massive increase in production capacity, helped by improvements to the existing crushing circuit. ELRUS Aggregate Systems provided advice on optimizing throughput, with the facility further improved with the addition of a new CH660 cone crusher from Sandvik Construction.
    Read More
  • Repairs to piers on Italian viaduct
    July 17, 2012
    Hydrodemolition played a vital role in the repairs and strengthening of the multi-span Rio Verde Viaduct, one of the tallest in Europe, that carries the busy dual two-lane A15/E33 Autostrada della Cisa over a steep-sided valley in the municipality of Pontremoli, north-west Italy. Conjet hydrodemolition equipment was used to remove damaged concrete from the faces of the viaduct's rectangular concrete piers, which rise up to 136m from the valley bottom to the steel deck. A new and thicker concrete skin was th
    Read More
  • Repairs to piers on Italian viaduct
    July 17, 2012
    Hydrodemolition played a vital role in the repairs and strengthening of the multi-span Rio Verde Viaduct, one of the tallest in Europe, that carries the busy dual two-lane A15/E33 Autostrada della Cisa over a steep-sided valley in the municipality of Pontremoli, north-west Italy. Conjet hydrodemolition equipment was used to remove damaged concrete from the faces of the viaduct's rectangular concrete piers, which rise up to 136m from the valley bottom to the steel deck. A new and thicker concrete skin was th
    Read More

Highlighted Content