The last section of the old U.S. 421 Madison-Milton Bridge was brought down with explosives at around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013 in Madison, Ind. The work of the bridge replacement project now continues as workers will reinforce the existing piers and widen the piers at the tops. Then the new bridge super structure will be slid into place from the temporary piers to the newly reinforced piers. (AP Photo /The Madison Courier, Ken Ritchie)
MADISON, Ind. (AP) — A fiery, controlled explosion brought down the final section of the old Madison-Milton Bridge over the Ohio River on Thursday.
The demolition of the last 600-foot section of the 84-year-old span connecting Madison, Ind., and Milton, Ky., was moved up by a half hour because of weather. An adjacent new bridge was closed to traffic before the blast and later reopened.
Recreational boaters were required to stay 1,000 feet from the bridge during the blast and a no-fly zone of 2,000 feet was put into effect.
The old bridge’s piers remain standing and will be reinforced and widened at the top before a new superstructure is put into place. The new 40-foot-wide bridge on the old piers will be twice the size of the old span.
The new superstructure is currently resting on temporary piers downstream from the old bridge.
Crews will pull pieces of the truss of the demolished bridge from the river, dismantle them and sell them for scrap.
The Indiana Department of Transportation and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet are working together on the bridge replacement.
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