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In a blink, it's gone
By JENNIFER FARRELL, Times Staff Writer
CLEARWATER -- Explosives felled a damaged section of the new Memorial Causeway Bridge before dawn Thursday.
Twin charges exploded at 3 a.m., toppling steel supports holding the 80-foot span in place. The blasts, timed a blink apart, sent 1-million pounds of concrete crashing 40 feet to the ground. Although the concrete missed a huge dirt mound piled below to cushion its fall, city and construction officials called the demolition a success. "It worked just the way they planned," said city public services director Gary Johnson. "It couldn't have gone any better." The concrete landed on the south side of the enormous dirt pile, which engineers had designed as a kind of earthen catcher's mitt. But Johnson said the heap, piled 100 feet long, 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep, still did its job. "It kept any vibrations and debris from going out in the street," he said. Jerry Harder, vice president of bridge builder PCL Constructors, said the concrete hit its mark. He acknowledged some debris landed near the edge of the water but said it caused no damage to sea grass beds. "Everything that we've done went according to plan," Harder said. A group of 20 onlookers watched the demolition across the water from a parking lot near Coachman Park. A cheer went up as the steel supports crumpled. Before the explosions, aerial observers kept watch for manatees, but none was seen, Johnson said. It took less than 14 pounds of dynamite to bring the span down. Traffic on the causeway was detoured to Belleair Causeway during demolition, and marine traffic was re-routed. Johnson said traffic reopened by 3:10 a.m. The 80-foot bridge span sank a foot and twisted during a construction accident two weeks ago. Engineers opted to demolish it, but they needed to avoid damaging the existing road, waterway or nearby sections of the $69.3-million project. The roadway shifted on the morning of Dec. 3. after crews moved a large set of v-shaped forms into which concrete had been poured. As crews slid the giant forms, steel cross beams under the hardened concrete rolled, causing the bridge section to sink and twist. No one was hurt, and an engineering review found no conclusive structural damage to the span, but PCL opted to tear it down anyway. Thursday, crews began cleanup. Replacing the section will take about a month, Harder said. Launched in February, the four-lane bridge project is planned to open to traffic late next year, with a finish date set for July 2004. -- Staff photographer Douglas R. Clifford contributed to this report. Jennifer Farrell can be reached at (727) 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com ">farrell@sptimes.com .
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