Implosions Scheduled Monday for Bridge at Louisiana

Two more spans of the old Champ Clark Bridge at Louisiana are scheduled to come down Monday.
MODOT and Massman Construction say the implosions to drop spans four and five on the Illinois side are currently scheduled for between 9 a-m and noon. Timing of the blast may be delayed. The new bridge will close—possibly for up to 45 minutes—as a safety precaution during the implosion process.

There will be no restrictions as to where individuals can view the blast from the Missouri side of the river. Boats on the Mississippi River will be stopped a minimum of 1200 feet upstream and downstream of the bridge. The demolition blasts will be available to view live on the MoDOT Northeast District Facebook page.

Once these last two truss spans have been dropped, Massman will have a limited time frame within which to retrieve all debris from the Mississippi River.
Removal of the piers has begun and will continue as spans are removed from the river. Massman has chosen to jackhammer the existing piers down to the water’s surface to prevent possible damage to the new bridge.