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First Span of Old Ledbetter Bridge Brought Down

First Span of Old Ledbetter Bridge Brought Down
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By Tim Brockwell
Sep. 15, 2014 | PADUCAH, KY
By Tim Brockwell Sep. 15, 2014 | 04:33 PM | PADUCAH, KY
After a loud boom and a cloud of smoke, what once was the western approach span of the Old Ledbetter Bridge now sits at the bottom of the Tennessee River.

A crowd of hundreds gathered on the new US 60 Tennessee River Bridge early Tuesday morning about 2000 feet up river from the doomed structure to watch the blast, which happened at 8:00 am sharp. In an instant, what had stood for more than eight decades came down with a giant splash, and onlookers were treated to an event that is rarely seen in our area.

On Monday a crew placed explosives at nine key points on the truss closest to the McCracken County shore. Detonation of the controlled explosion cut the truss into ten sections and knocked it into the river. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Spokesman Keith Todd said the operation went off without a hitch.

"At this point it looks like everything went well," Todd said. "The span got cut into about ten 40-foot sections. They'll start moving in here pretty quickly with the cranes to start lifting it out of the water."

Traffic on the new US 60 Tennessee River Bridge was restricted to one lane for several hours Tuesday morning to allow officials, media and members of the public to park along the westbound approach on the Livingston County side of the river, then walk up onto the deck of the new bridge to watch the demolition. Todd offered some consolation to those who were unable to come out and watch the demolition on Tuesday, saying there will be two more opportunities for the public to witness the rest of the bridge being brought down.

"We'll now start looking at the span on the Livingston County side of the river. The plan right now is that it would come down on September 23, and if that goes as planned they would come back and take out the main truss span on September 30," Todd said. "There are still going to be some opportunities for folks to come up and see the old bridge taken down. They are tentatively planning to take off the top half of the piers in one explosion, and then they will come back and there will be another one that would take out the bottom half of the piers."

Todd said about four more detonations will be required to bring down what remains of the aging structure

Click the link below to watch KYTC video of the detonation.

 

On the Net:

Old Ledbetter Bridge Western Approach Span Detonation
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