195-foot stretch of river bridge dropped in explosion.
When it spent $27 million to rehabilitate the 31st Street Bridge in 2006 and 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation deliberately left the section nearest Route 28 untouched.
The reason for that was underscored with a thunderclap on Thursday. A 195-foot stretch of faded blue, rust-streaked steel collapsed into the Allegheny River back channel, its demise brought about in a conspiracy of gravity and 20 pounds of explosives.
Texas-based Duane Houkom Inc. wired the doomed bridge section with blasting charges that instantly burned through the steel, causing it to plummet in four convenient pieces.
About 50 people watched the demolition from a pedestrian bridge that connects the North Shore and Washington’s Landing.
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