THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240376
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 77 lines
At sunrise today, the old Coleman Bridge is expected to come crashing down into the Elizabeth River from a single, orchestrated blast of plastic explosives.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission unanimously approved the spectacular demolition plan Tuesday, after experts testified that razing the 4,000-ton steel span by a synchronized explosion would not threaten human life, property or the environment.
``The bottom line is we have no compelling objection to this proposal,'' said Don Wright, dean and research biologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a branch of the College of William and Mary.
Viewing the spectacle will be difficult. The old bridge, replaced this spring after 44 years of ferrying traffic across the York River, is now stored at a special pier at Norfolk International Terminals, which is off-limits to the public.
Three Coast Guard vessels, forming a 500-yard no-entry zone around the old bridge, will patrol the busy northern mouth of the Elizabeth River starting at 6 a.m. to ensure that spectators in boats keep a safe distance, said Lt. Richard Pruitt, chief of port safety and security.
The zone will remain in effect until about 30 minutes after the demolition but is not expected to slow morning maritime traffic, Pruitt said.
The bridge sits on concrete pilings about 100 yards offshore, far from port businesses and offices. It is broken into four sections. Two are 590 feet long and two others extend 500 feet.
Plastic explosives will be set strategically at the base of each section, with heavy conveyer-belt rubber wrapped around steel legs to muffle the explosion and keep debris from flying, said Shelton Collier, vice president of the heavy marine division of Tidewater Construction Corp.
Once detonated, the bridge will crumble into the river in 18 separate pieces, each weighing about 200 tons, he said. Over the next two weeks, a crane will fish out the crumpled steel framing and carry it by barge to a scrap yard on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.
Tidewater Construction built the new $90 million Coleman Bridge, which connects Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and is responsible for safely disposing of the old span. The disposal will cost about $1 million, with demolition running $100,000, Collier said.
The expected explosion, which planners said would send a big orange flame and loud boom into the morning air, was originally scheduled for this coming Saturday.
But the company hired by Tidewater to do the job, Controlled Demolition Inc., had to juggle its schedule to accommodate President Clinton.
The president wants to attend the destruction of 13 buildings in Baltimore on Saturday as part of a high-profile urban redevelopment campaign there. So CDI, which is razing the buildings, asked to accelerate the bridge project to make time for Clinton, Collier said.
He said that exploding the old bridge is faster, safer and less expensive than dismantling it by hand. Scientists seemed to agree.
Wright testified that lead paint, which undercoats the bridge, would be released into the Elizabeth River in larger amounts if construction workers were to cut the span into pieces with blow torches and other tools.
He described the amount of lead that may leach into the river as ``minimal,'' adding that it should have little or no ecological impact on shellfish or water quality.
Wright said he was initially more concerned that heavy chunks of steel falling into the river would stir up toxins buried in bottom sediments. But he said Tuesday that after some preliminary study, the risks seemed small.
Collier said he expects bridge steel to be salvaged in two weeks and the pier to be pulled from the river by October. The river area will later be dredged as part of a planned port expansion.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the demolition earlier this summer. But the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which regulates fishing, shoreline wetlands and river bottom, was not immediately informed.
After attorneys traded phone calls, Tidewater Construction and the VMRC decided that the project also required commission approval. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Coleman Bridge
KEYWORDS: COLEMAN BRIDGE EXPLODE DEMOLITION by CNB