St. Albans , Kanawha County , West Virginia

Hundreds, if not more than a thousand people, gathered Friday at a St. Albans roadside park to watch the explosion of the Nitro-St. Albans bridge.

The remaining pieces of the St. Albans side of the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge certainly went out with a bang.

“It was so amazing,” said Bryce Tinney, of Charleston. “The boom was awesome. I loved it. It was so cool.”

Demolition crews flawlessly took the steel structure down. Explosives designed to melt through the steel did their job as this piece tumbled into the river.

“It went exactly as planned,” said Gene Thompson of Kokosing Construction. “We didn't have any issues. Fortunately we got a lot of cooperation from the St. Albans Police Department. Things went very well.”

With the demolition happening so close to businesses and homes, workers had to use a minimal amount of explosive yet still have enough bang to bring it down. Their calculations were perfect.

“All of the explosive charges have to be matched to the critical members that they're going to sever out on the bridge there,” said Scott Gustafson of Dermtech Corporation. “And we try to keep the amount of explosives right down to the bare minimum for the environmental impact as well as all of the structures and glass.”

Thompson says he's hopeful the demolition of the final piece of the bridge on the Nitro side goes as smoothly as this operation.

Seeing this bridge come down was a sight many enjoyed, but it probably meant much more for three St. Albans women who were chosen by the mayor to symbolically “flip the switch.”

Mayor Dick Calloway selected Lorraine Henderson, Margaret Bassett, and Q.D. woods for the honor. And few people are more deserving of it than those three women, who say they were just absolutely floored when they learned they were selected.

Henderson is the wife of Dick Henderson, for whom the bridge was named. Bassett has written several books that follow the first family to settle in St. Albans and Q.D. Woods, at just 5 years old, is believed to be one of the first people to walk across the bridge when it was completed in 1934.

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As spectators lined the Roadside Park area and watched all of the action, the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge that connects to St. Albans was detonated Friday morning.

The demolition appeared to go off without a hitch as the bridge came crashing down and into the river about 10 a.m.

Eyewitness News brought you live TV coverage of the demolition on WVAH Fox11, and a live stream broadcast at wchstv.com.

Watch Eyewitness News at noon for the latest report on the bridge demolition.

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At Eyewitness News, we think you should have a blast on Friday, so we are going to make sure you have one.

Visit our website at wchstv.com on Friday for live stream coverage of the demolition of the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge that connects to St. Albans.

At 9:45 a.m., you can join us live to see views of the bridge from several different camera angles that will show the bridge as people wait for the big moment. Then stay with us for the blast, which state Department of Transportation officials said will occur promptly at 10 a.m. You also can watch the bridge demolition live on TV at WVAH Fox11.

Not only will you get to see the bridge coming down as it actually happens, Eyewitness News will have replays of the detonation from different angles. We also will have live stream coverage of some of the aftermath of the explosion.

This is a show you do not want to miss.

State Department of Transportation officials said St. Albans Mayor Dick Callaway and several selected members of the community will flip the ceremonial switch for the demolition. A staging area will be set up at the St. Albans Roadside Park, according to a news release from the state Department of Transportation.

Explosive charges will be placed strategically on the bridge, and the blast sites will be secured to control debris. When detonated, the charges will essentially cut the steel, and the pieces will fall into the Kanawha River. The debris will then be removed from the water. The release said the contractor is taking extra precaution to ensure that the piers and surrounding structures are not damaged by the blast.

The section of the bridge that connects to Nitro will be demolished at 10 a.m. Friday, March 8. Eyewitness News also will bring you live stream coverage of that demolition.

So be sure to watch all of the action this Friday at wchstv.com.

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St. Albans Mayor Dick Callaway and several selected members of the community will flip the ceremonial switch Friday for the demolition of the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge that connects to St. Albans.

A staging area will be set up at the St. Albans Roadside Park, according to a news release from the state Department of Transportation. The blast will occur promptly at 10 a.m.

Explosive charges will be placed strategically on the bridge, and the blast sites will be secured to control debris. When detonated, the charges will essentially cut the steel, and the pieces will fall into the Kanawha River. The debris will then be removed from the water. The release said the contractor is taking extra precaution to ensure that the piers and surrounding structures are not damaged by the blast.

The section of the bridge that connects to Nitro will be demolished at 10 a.m. Friday, March 8.

You can watch live stream coverage of both demolitions on the Eyewitness News website at wchstv.com.

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State officials said they are still working on plans for the demolition of the the St. Albans-Nitro Bridge, but they expect the bridge to come tumbling down in a manner of seconds when they use explosives to detonate the remaining parts on two separate days.

The St. Albans side of the bridge will be detonated at 10 a.m. March 1, and the Nitro side will be taken down at 10 a.m. March 8, Carrie Bly, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said.

Originally, officials said plans had called for dismantling the bridge piece by piece, but that strategy wasn't working. Bly said crews will probably start attaching explosives to the bridge on Feb. 25. The remaining sections of the bridge are the approaches.

Bly said she expected each demolition would only take seconds, and that crews would then spend a good deal of time removing the fallen debris from the water.

No special ceremonies are planned yet for the demolitions. There will be separate areas for viewing and a spot where probably two officials will push the button to detonate the explosives. Bly said the two officials for the St. Albans demolition haven't been chosen yet. Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox will do the Nitro demolition and likely will be joined by another official.

"We are going to do our best to get both mayors involved," Bly said.

The viewing area for the bridge demolition March 1 in St. Albans probably will be Roadside Park, Bly said.

The bridge is expected to be closed for a year while the replacement project takes place.

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The bridge the used to connect Nitro and St. Albans is going out with a bang.

Division of Highways officials said Thursday the piecemeal manner in which they had started to dismantle the 79-year-old span wasn't working. Crews began cutting sections of the Dick Henderson Bridge and lowering them onto a barge to be shipped to a Kokosing company scrapyard last week. But officials say the remaining pieces are too heavy.

The Charleston Daily Mail reported officials now plan to shoot explosives onto the remaining portions and blast them apart.

The company must give the public two weeks' notice before blasting. Division spokeswoman Carrie Bly said Kokosing will blast the St. Albans portion at 10 a.m. on March 1 and the Nitro side at 8 a.m. on March 8.


Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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The St. Albans-Nitro Bridge is being dismantled piece by piece. Another section was removed Wednesday and lowered carefully onto a barge below. The job is a complicated task, closing the Kanawha River to river traffic.

The demolition and renovation of the bridge will take most of the year. Another section was removed and lowered carefully onto a barge below Wednesday.

The bridge will be widened to three lanes, and will include other upgrades, like a new deck on top of the existing piers. If crews keep on schedule, the river should re-open to barge traffic on Friday.

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After having stood for decades, the bridge spanning the Kanawha River between Nitro and St. Albans is finally coming down.

"I've lived in St. Albans all of my life and of course the bridge is a part of your life," Karen Meadows said. "I mean getting in and out of town it's always quicker to go that way to get on the interstate. So, it's just a part of history."

Construction crews spent most of the day cutting out the center of the bridge before lowering it to a waiting barge below. It's a major step toward the completion of a new crossing that is scheduled to be ready for traffic by November.

"Well, that was our first pick and most difficult pick to demolish the bridge so we were being doubly and triply careful not to make a mistake," Gene Thompson of Kokosing Construction said. "Especially since we're on television we didn't want to make a mistake but everything went pretty much according to plan."

The job took a bit longer than anticipated because of dropping river levels that forced the crews to adjust their crane positions.

"The river level actually dropped down a bit from the time we set the barge up and set the crane so we had to make some adjustments on the fly on the barge but everything went according to plan," Thompson said.

It looked like they were having a little bit of trouble, prompting Meadows to observe which side was causing the delay.

"It's the Nitro side that's the problem," Meadows said. "It's always the Nitro side that's the problem. Nitro's fault, yeah."

During the renovation, the bridge will be widened to three lanes and receive upgrades along with a new deck put on top of the existing piers. The price tag is about $24 million. Highways officials say that is about half of what it would cost to build a brand new bridge.

The Kanawha River will be closed until Friday to allows crews to continue dismantling the structure.

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The bridge is going to start coming down.

Carrie Bly, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said the first section of the St. Albans-Nitro Bridge is scheduled for replacement early Tuesday afternoon.

The bridge, also known as the R.J. “Dick” Henderson Bridge, is closed for replacement. The project is expected to last about a year.

During the renovation, the bridge will be widened to three lanes and receive upgrades along with a new deck put on top of the existing bridge.

The price tag will be about $24 million. Highway officials said that is about half of what it would take to build a brand new bridge.

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The St. Albans-Nitro Bridge is closing for a year, but folks are throwing a party.

The bridge, also known as the R.J. “Dick” Henderson Bridge, will close for replacement starting Monday, Jan. 7. The St. Albans Partnership / Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a "Bridge Closing Party" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the St. Albans Roadside Park on MacCorkle Avenue across from the St. Albans Mall, according to a news release from organizers of the event.

Alan Hoover with 100.9 The Mix will be broadcasting live from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with promotional items and giveaways.

Meanwhile, the St. Albans Historical Society will be displaying historic photos and information about the bridge. Members of the St. Albans Partnership/Chamber of Commerce and other businesses will be on hand to showcase their business and promote fact that St. Albans is still open for business and just a few minutes from the interstate. Exhibitors will be distributing promotional items and there will be gift drawings and prizes.

During the renovation, the Nitro-St. Albans Bridge will be widened to three lanes and receive upgrades along with a new deck put on top of the existing bridge.

The price tag will be about $24 million. Highway officials said that is about half of what it would take to build a brand new bridge.

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Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed.