Donora-Webster Bridge imploded; salvage crews immediately at work
The Donora-Webster Bridge was demolished on Wednesday. The bridge connected Donora and Webster for 107 years, but had been closed for the past six years because of safety issues.
The Donora-Webster Bridge after it was imploded on Wednesday. The bridge had been closed for six years after safety problems.
PennDOT assistant district executive for construction Bill Kovach and Demtech’s chief blaster Scott Gustafson talk about the success of the Donora-Webster bridge implosion Wednesday.
The imploded Donora-Webster Bridge rests Wednesday on the bottom of the Monongahela River.
The historic Donora-Webster Bridge lands in the Monongahela River Wednesday as it was imploded using military-style explosives.
The center span of the Donora-Webster Bridge shortly after it was imploded Wednesday.
Beech Construction took precautionary measures to protect a section of the Donora Southern Railroad from being damaged Wednesday by the weight of the demolished Donora-Webster Bridge.
A view Wednesday of the Donora-Webster Bridge wreckage from Webster.
A view Wednesday of the demolished Donora-Webster Bridge from the Westmoreland County side of the Monongahela River.
Work begins Wednesday on removing the scrap steel from the Monongahela River following the implosion of the Donora-Webster Bridge.
Explosive charges are set off, sending the Donora-Webster Bridge into the Monongahela River.
WEBSTER – Church bells began to chime in Donora shortly after 72 pounds of military-style explosives sent the historic Donora-Webster Bridge into the Monongahela River within seconds Wednesday.
“It’s a new beginning,” Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said upon hearing the bells after she watched the implosion from a small beach along the river in Webster.
Salvage crews immediately moved into action to remove the bridge’s scrap steel from the water following the 9:59 a.m. blasts that sent plumes of charcoal smoke into the sky.
“It will probably come back as a Toyota,” chief blaster Scott Gustafson said during a media briefing after the demolition of the 107-year-old span that once joined Washington and Westmoreland counties.
The bridge, which had been on the National Register of Historic Places because of its design, was out of commission for six years. PennDOT closed the steel truss span in 2009 after an inspection determined it was no longer safe for vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
“It just had to be demolished. It was too unsafe,” said PennDOT Assistant District Executive Bill Kovach.
Petersen said PennDOT received only one report of damage from the blast, and that was a broken window on a house in Webster. The contractor made immediate plans to replace the window, she said.
PennDOT later learned someone had violated the no-fly zone during the implosion by sending two drones above the span, something that could have halted the plan to set off the charges, she said. No action was expected to be taken against the owner of the drones, she added.
At least one man who ignored the order to vacate the blasting zone in Webster had to be ordered to safety, said Gustafson, who works for Demtech of Saxonburg.
He said 350 “linear-shaped charges” reduced the steel truss bridge to rubble as planned.
“It went absolutely great,” Gustafson said.
“That bridge was cut up, and you didn’t even know it,” he said. “Gravity takes over real quick.”
The three spans that were imploded stretched for 900 feet and weighed 700 tons, Gustafson said.
Some local residents and state Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-California, made fruitless last-minute efforts to save the bridge or stall its demolition. It had been deemed historic because of the way it was pinned together in a style copied from a Pennsylvania Railroad bridge design.
“It’s bittersweet,” Webster resident Vicky Bennett said as she walked to the river to inspect the aftermath of the implosion.
“It’s sad, too, because we lost the connection,” she said, gazing across the river at Donora.
Traffic studies did not show a need to spend $30 million to replace the span.
“It was not warranted,” Kovach said.
“We made improvements to the roads in and out of here to mitigate the fact that the bridge is no longer there,” he said.
Under an agreement with the state Historical and Museum Commission, PennDOT must save the bridge dedication plaques, sections of its pin joints and some pier stones as donations to Donora and Rostraver Township.
Beech Construction of Carnegie was awarded a $2.6 million contract to demolish the bridge. It was given 24 hours Wednesday to remove the steel from the river and reopen navigation in the area.