PDI was contracted in 2017 to remove the Morningside Bridge in 2 phases. The bridge was six spans (4 spans of 100’, and 2 spans of 85’). The bridge averages 100’ above the ground and river below. We removed the Northern half of the bridge, approximately 36’, in the summer of 2018 while traffic was diverted to the new Southern half of the bridge.
Span two of the bridge over the river was demolished first in both phases. The overhang and barrier wall were pulverized by an excavator and caught by another adjacent excavator with a catch bucket. This was important in order to ensure that no debris fell into the protected waterway below.
The deck of the second span (over the river) was removed via saw cutting and rigging 8’ x 10’ sections. Following that, two 165T cranes were rigged up on the closed lanes at night, and the five-span 2 girders were lifted onto flat deck trucks in the temporarily closed live lanes. The girders were then taken to the end of the bridge and processed to manageable sizes for trucking.
