THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996             TAG: 9608170276
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: METRO BRIEFS
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   23 lines

BOOM WAS BRIDGE DEMOLITION

A loud boom Friday morning that alarmed residents near Norfolk International Terminals resulted from part of the final demolition phase of the old Coleman Memorial Bridge.

Residents of Larchmont and areas surrounding NIT heard the blast and felt the ground tremble about 7:15 a.m.

Officials with Tidewater Construction Corp. said the company used dynamite to help destroy concrete piers that held the spans of the old bridge. At least one more blast is expected in the next week.

The old bridge was blasted to bits July 24 at NIT. The new bridge sections rise in its place, spanning the York River and carrying cars between Yorktown and Gloucester Point.

Since the demolition, Tidewater Construction has been lifting chunks of the old bridge from the Elizabeth River with cranes and taking them to a scrap yard. by CNB