Kanawha River bridge to be demolished by blasting - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Kanawha River bridge to be demolished by blasting

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People who like explosions will love The Dick Henderson Bridge over the Kanawha River between Nitro and St. Albans next month.

The West Virginia Division of Highways says the slow dismantling of the bridge is not going as well as planned, so the parts of the old steel bridge still standing will be removed by blasting.

Carrie Bly, a spokesperson for the DoH, said the general contractor for the demolition is required to give two weeks' notice of blasting work, and the DoH received that notice on Feb. 14.

The tower and remaining steel on the St. Albans side of the river are scheduled to come down at 10 a.m. March 1. The Nitro side is scheduled for removal at 10 a.m. March 8.

The bridge was closed to traffic in January so a replacement could be built on its existing piers, which are being strengthened. The replacement will be similar to the bridge over the Kanawha near the Putnam County town of Buffalo.

The Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge was built in 1934 by McClintic Marshall Corp. of Bethlehem, Pa. It was a three-span cantilever Warren through truss with an overall length of 1,367 feet.

The demolition will be the first of a large bridge on the Kanawha since the Shadle Bridge connecting Point Pleasant and Henderson was brought down on Dec. 16, 1998.