THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250417
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 80 lines
At dawn Wednesday, the old Coleman Bridge stood high above the Elizabeth River in a remote section of the Norfolk International Terminals.
At 6:40 a.m., bursts of orange flames exploded around the bridge, which was resting on concrete piers. Piece by piece, the hulking masses of steel descended into the river. A large boom shattered the morning air and rumbled through the ground underfoot.
Then, silence set in and the dark smoke faded.
In about 10 seconds, 4,000 tons of steel - most of the old Coleman bridge - had been blasted to pieces.
Cheers and applause erupted from the small crowd of workers that had gathered to orchestrate and witness the demolition. The site was off-limits to the public, and a 500-yard safety zone kept boats and barges away from the bridge.
``I'm delighted. It went exactly as we had hoped,'' said Ed McLaughlin, president of Tidewater Construction Corp., the company that built the new $90 million Coleman Bridge and is responsible for disposing of the old one.
The old bridge spanned the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester for 44 years. It was floated to its resting place at the northern end of Norfolk International Terminals in May to make way for a new four-lane bridge.
The old bridge was stripped of its concrete deck and cut into four sections in preparation for Wednesday morning's demolition. The explosion, planned and executed by Baltimore-based Controlled Demolition Inc., split the four sections into 18 pieces.
To bring down the bridge, it took about 150 pounds of explosives lodged in more than 150 places throughout the steel spans, said Doug Loizeaux, vice president of Controlled Demolition.
Although explosives often are used to bring down old buildings, a bridge demolition of this magnitude is rare.
Tidewater Construction chose to blow up the bridge rather than cut it by hand because explosives are quicker and cleaner, McLaughlin said.
``To cut those pieces with explosives when they are wrapped with a rubber belt, instead of cutting hundreds of pieces by hand, is environmentally a plus,'' he said, referring to the lead paint that undercoats the bridge.
It would have taken about 30 workers two months to do what the explosives accomplished in 10 seconds. In that time, workers would have been exposed to the lead paint, and more lead would have been released into the river, McLaughlin said.
After the explosion, 11 of the 18 steel pieces, each weighing about 150 tons, lay on the bottom of the Elizabeth River. Parts of them jutted above the surface. From the river's edge, a sign left over from the bridge's more useful days was visible. It read ``VERTICAL CLEARANCE 60 FEET MEAN HIGH TIDE.''
The other seven pieces, including the bridge's control house with all its windows intact, sat atop the six concrete piers and one of the two metal pilings at the marine terminals.
During the next two weeks, a crane will lift the bridge's steel pieces onto a barge, which will haul them to Peck Recycling in Chesapeake. The company will cut the pieces into smaller chunks that will be resold to steel mills.
Parts of the old bridge could end up in any number of places, including a new car or bridge, said Bill Brewster, manager of Peck Recycling.
Tidewater Construction hopes to clear the concrete piers and pilings in the next month or two, McLaughlin said.
Company officials and other onlookers Wednesday said they think this is the first bridge to be blown up in Hampton Roads, but buildings are another story. The six-story Flatiron Building was imploded in downtown Norfolk in 1991. Explosives also leveled the 14-story First American Bank building downtown in 1988.
The new George P. Coleman Bridge opened two of its four lanes May 13. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Aug. 2, when the bridge will open all lanes.
The toll, which is 50 cents for commuters and $2 for other cars, will take effect Aug. 3. The Virginia Department of Transportation predicts that bridge traffic, already about 28,000 vehicles a day, will increase by about 1,000 a day every year, a spokesman said. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MIKE HEFFNER, The Virginian-Pilot
In about 10 seconds, it was over. The old Coleman Bridge, which had
ferried passengers across the York River between Yorktown and
Gloucester for 44 years, was demolished Wednesday at Norfolk
International Terminals. About 150 pounds of explosives lodged in
150 places had done the job. by CNB