Kosciuszko bridge officially getting blown up this Sunday
Out with the old: The new Kosciuszko Bridge in the foreground, with the old bridge behind it. Image: Wikimedia commons.
The long-delayed demolition of two old sections of the Kosciuszko Bridge has been scheduled for this Sunday, October 1, according to AM New York. The demolition will herald the first stage of the $825 million construction of the new Kosciuszko Bridge. The first section of the new bridge was opened to eastbound and westbound traffic in April. The implosion of the 78-year-old bridge–still subject to change depending on weather conditions–has been scheduled for 8 a.m. according to Councilman Stephen Levin’s office.
The planned implosion uses a process called energetic felling, which involves the placement of charges at key joints on the bridge. When the small charges go off, the bridge breaks apart and falls straight down.
The Coast Guard will be blocking part of Newtown Creek near the bridge from 7-10 a.m., and roadways near the bridge will be blocked for several hours for the demo, which is being overseen by the state’s Department of Transportation.
I just took the first drive over the new Kosciuszko bridge in FDR’s 1932 Packard.
A beautiful car for a beautiful bridge. pic.twitter.com/Fn5avSqw5u
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 27, 2017
Motorists will be glad to see the old, not-big-enough bridge, the source of major congestion between the two boroughs for decades, go. Opened in 1939, it was only intended to carry 10,000 vehicles each day. When the old bridge closed last April–Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a ceremonial first ride across its replacement in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 Packard–180,000 vehicles were crossing daily.
The bridge, part of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, spans Newtown Creek and connects Brooklyn with Queens. When the new bridge is complete in 2020, it will offer five Queens-bound lanes and four lanes and a pedestrian/bike path on the Brooklyn-bound side.
[Via AMNY]
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So much for the “It’s faster”spiel. As for “It’s safer” we shall see. The same company took down a bridge in Florida and flying debris broke a state inspector’s leg. He was 1/2 mile away. They also blasted a bridge in Pittsburgh and flying debris so badly damaged the neighborhood one building had to be condemned.