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May 17, 2006

DOT gives green light to old Jamestown bridge blast

All systems are go for the second major demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge.

The detonation is still set for tomorrow, but closer to 11:30 a.m. than the earlier expected time of 10:30 a.m., said Frank Corrao, deputy chief engineer for the state Department of Transportation. “Nothing but good news. We’re on schedule,” he said this morning.

The adjacent Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge will close at 10:30 a.m. and could be closed for up to four hours. Despite an expected four-hour closure, the new bridge was closed for just two hours for the first phase of the bridge demolition, on April 18, according to Corrao.

Unlike the first detonation, the University of Rhode Island will not be opening its Narragansett Bay Campus as a public viewing area.

With more than 10 times the explosives used for the first blast, this second blast is expected to remove 2,200 feet of deck trusses and girder spans, as well as the top 50 feet of the two concrete piers that supported the former center section of the bridge.

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 12:34 PM | Permalink

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