A few onlookers and a Web audience watch the demolition of the Champlain Bridge
CROWN POINT -- Shrouded by a snow squall, the 80-year-old Champlain Bridge met its end Monday, witnessed in person only by a handful but beamed live worldwide over the Internet.
Shortly after 10 a.m., 800 pounds of explosive set at key points along the bridge went off with a sharp boom, sending the steel truss bridge plunging into the lake amid dots of flame in a billowing black cloud.
Stanley Gee, acting commissioner of the state Transportation Department, said the implosion went off as planned. "The bridge imploded inward and dropped straight down, and did not explode outward," he said.
Snow started falling about an hour before the demolition and spoiled the view from areas set aside for the public at the Port Henry boat launch, about two miles north of the bridge, as well as Bulwagga Bay Park in Moriah.
Vermont authorities set up a viewing site on that state's side of the bridge as well.
Even at the Crown Point Historic Site, where state officials, reporters and media crews watched the countdown to demolition, the bridge was obscured in the snow that fell from leaden skies.
Work crews immediately began removing the bridge debris from the lake, using barges and a crane. Divers may have to go into the lake if the debris becomes entangled, Gee said.
Other workers will continue to build a car ferry service just south of the former bridge, at the Crown Point state campsite, that is expected to open by the end of January. Gee said the ferry that is currently based up the lake in Essex will move to the new site.
DOT closed the bridge suddenly in mid-October, after inspections found several submerged concrete support piers were rotted so badly that the bridge was in danger of imminent collapse. Subsequent tests found that the piers were beyond repair.
The emergency closure divided people on either side of the lake, many of whom have friends, families or jobs on the opposite side. About 4,000 cars a day used the bridge, and its loss meant many people faced long detours or expensive ferry rides.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas pressed the button that set off Monday's explosives. It was a fitting circle in the history of the bridge, which was dedicated in 1929 by a ribbon-cutting ceremony with New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vermont Gov. John Weeks.
Douglas said, "We want the new bridge in place as soon as possible, and today's effort will ensure that we are ready to begin building a replacement bridge in the spring, when weather permits."
The demolition was done under an $188,000 contract with the Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition. The owners of the company have a new reality show scheduled to start in January on The Learning Channel titled "The Imploders."
For 10 days before the implosion, AED crews set 500 individual shaped charges, each of which thrust angled blades into the bridge's steel support trusses.
While no one outside the historic site could see the bridge come down, the sound of blast -- estimated at 130 decibels, equivalent to the sound of a jumbo jet on takeoff -- could be heard for miles.
Source: A few onlookers and a Web audience watch the demolition of the Champlain Bridge
Stanley Gee, acting commissioner of the state Transportation Department, said the implosion went off as planned. "The bridge imploded inward and dropped straight down, and did not explode outward," he said.
Snow started falling about an hour before the demolition and spoiled the view from areas set aside for the public at the Port Henry boat launch, about two miles north of the bridge, as well as Bulwagga Bay Park in Moriah.
Vermont authorities set up a viewing site on that state's side of the bridge as well.
Even at the Crown Point Historic Site, where state officials, reporters and media crews watched the countdown to demolition, the bridge was obscured in the snow that fell from leaden skies.
Work crews immediately began removing the bridge debris from the lake, using barges and a crane. Divers may have to go into the lake if the debris becomes entangled, Gee said.
Other workers will continue to build a car ferry service just south of the former bridge, at the Crown Point state campsite, that is expected to open by the end of January. Gee said the ferry that is currently based up the lake in Essex will move to the new site.
DOT closed the bridge suddenly in mid-October, after inspections found several submerged concrete support piers were rotted so badly that the bridge was in danger of imminent collapse. Subsequent tests found that the piers were beyond repair.
The emergency closure divided people on either side of the lake, many of whom have friends, families or jobs on the opposite side. About 4,000 cars a day used the bridge, and its loss meant many people faced long detours or expensive ferry rides.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas pressed the button that set off Monday's explosives. It was a fitting circle in the history of the bridge, which was dedicated in 1929 by a ribbon-cutting ceremony with New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vermont Gov. John Weeks.
Douglas said, "We want the new bridge in place as soon as possible, and today's effort will ensure that we are ready to begin building a replacement bridge in the spring, when weather permits."
The demolition was done under an $188,000 contract with the Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition. The owners of the company have a new reality show scheduled to start in January on The Learning Channel titled "The Imploders."
For 10 days before the implosion, AED crews set 500 individual shaped charges, each of which thrust angled blades into the bridge's steel support trusses.
While no one outside the historic site could see the bridge come down, the sound of blast -- estimated at 130 decibels, equivalent to the sound of a jumbo jet on takeoff -- could be heard for miles.
Source: A few onlookers and a Web audience watch the demolition of the Champlain Bridge
