A bridge in Little Rock, Arkansas surprised officials when dynamite meant to collapse the structure into the river on Tuesday had little effect. The bridge, which had reportedly been thought of as dangerously weak since 2010, didnt come down until after four more attempts to pull it down.
The 93-year-old bridge runs between Little Rock and North Little Rock and had been closed since late September. When the explosions took place, a few pieces could be seen flying off into the river but the bridge itself stayed intact.
The demolition was being overseen by Massman Construction, according to the Daily Mail, which also has the contract to build the bridges replacement for $98.4m. After the initial explosions, the company had to think up a novel way to bring down the structure, with the initial dynamite having thought to have made it too weak to place new explosives.
The bridge was then attached by cable to a barge and tug but was still standing after three attempts to pull it down. Only after a second tug was added did the bridge finally come down at 2:48pm – over 4 hours after the initial 10am explosion.
