Old Amelia Earhart Memorial bridge faces explosive end.
Multiple sources have confirmed the implosion of the old Amelia Earhart Memorial bridge will occur in three phases, beginning Monday, Sept. 23. Subsequent blasts will come Tuesday, Sept. 24 and Monday, Sept. 30. The Kansas Department of Transportation also confirmed the dates, but said they were tentative and that specific times have not yet been determined.
Chicago-based Omega Demolition has been tasked to bring the bridge down. In an April interview with the Globe, Larry Vivoda, project manager at Omega, said the debris will be retrieved from the Missouri River using a Komatsu PC800 excavator placed on a barge, equipped with a grapple attachment.
The old AE Bridge hasn’t been in use since Dec. 4 when the new AE Bridge first allowed traffic. The opening of the new bridge was an event 16 years in the making. After being granted funding for the project, it was the last project listed on a 10-year plan.
Early estimates on the implosion of the old bridge focused on April of this year, but a late winter blast and other roadblocks delayed the action. Sections of the bridge have been cut and destroyed, but the implosion date had remained a mystery.
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