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CLEARWATER - The Clearwater drawbridge will go out with a literal bang when the Florida Department of Transportation begins its demolition Tuesday by using explosives to blast apart part of the 1960s bridge.
Traffic on the nearby Clearwater Memorial Causeway will stop for about 15 minutes between 7 and 8 a.m. while the demolition takes place.
Engineers will use explosives to fracture the counterweight boxes of the bascule leaves.
The above-water demolition is the first of three planned for the drawbridge. Two others are tentatively scheduled for Sept. 30 and Oct. 18.
The debris will be hauled to a reef 12 miles offshore.
The $69.3-million, 2,340-foot-long, 74-foot-tall Clearwater Memorial Causeway, which replaced the drawbridge as the main route to Clearwater Beach, opened to traffic Aug. 18.
Clearwater officials plan to convert part of the drawbridge into a 300-foot-long promenade with views of the Clearwater Memorial Causeway, Coachman Park and the waters north and south.