PITTSBURGH —
UPDATE 8:05 a.m.: The Commercial Street Bridge has been imploded!
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE IMPLOSION
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UPDATE 7:50 a.m.: The implosion is scheduled to happen within the next 30 minutes.
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UPDATE: PennDOT said the implosion is scheduled to occur before 10 a.m.
They added that an additional update will be provided when the explosion is expected to occur within a 30-minute timeframe.
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After being postponed on Wednesday night, the Commercial Street Bridge implosion is now scheduled to happen this morning.
The new demolition window is between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Yesterday, PennDOT gave an 8-hour window for the planned explosive demolition, but safety concerns pushed it back.
Sources tell 11 Investigator Chief Investigator Rick Earle that there were “issues with some part of the deck that prevented crews from moving some equipment in time.” Eventually, they ran out of daylight and decided to call it a day.
City officials told Earle that they expressed concerns about the timeline earlier today, but they moved police, fire and EMS into place even though they were not optimistic about the demolition happening on Wednesday.
A PennDOT spokesperson added that crews were working to install explosives and put in a fence, which couldn’t be done in time on Wednesday.
Channel 11’s cameras will be back out at the scene this morning. We will have you covered with LIVE coverage of the demolition on TV, streaming in our apps and on the WPXI YouTube page.
See more coverage below!
PennDOT holds press conference after ‘successful’ demolition of Commercial Street Bridge
Out with the old and in with the new: the Commercial Street Bridge, as we knew it, is no more after a controlled blast along the Parkway East, right around 8 a.m. Thursday.
“It came down perfectly. I commend the demolition crew; that was amazing work,” said Jason Zang of PennDOT.
“It was really quick. It was like, you see smoke, and boom - the bridge is gone,” said Kevin Lynch of Squirrel Hill.
As for why the blast didn’t happen Wednesday as planned, PennDOT said contractors simply ran out of time, pointing out that every piece of dynamite was triple wrapped, which is routine for concrete bridges, and that the hot temperatures could have slowed workers down.
“Nothing went wrong, other than we were probably overly ambitious, trying to get it done, and we ran out of daylight. It’s really all that happened last night,” Zang said.
If you’re wondering why the bridge’s end supports were still standing after the implosion, PennDOT said that was by design.
“They were not intended to be imploded ... They will be brought down using mechanical, you know, conventional methods,” Zang said.
Clean-up already underway at demo site of old Commercial Street Bridge
PennDOT says the first step is to clear enough debris to allow equipment in and out so crews can access the new bridge. They expect that to take two or three days.
Drone 11 shows just how much work there is to do. Large chunks of concrete and rebar are left behind. Crews say they won’t finish the cleanup until the new bridge is in place and the Parkway East reopens to anxiously awaiting drivers.
As for all that concrete and rebar - there’s a plan for that.
“The concrete debris is being hauled to the Oakmont area where it will be crushed and recycled,” PennDOT tells Channel 11. “And all the rebar ... that will be sent out to a scrapyard to be recycled.”
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