Old Kosciuszko Bridge Demolished in Early Morning Detonation
GREENPOINT – The old Kosciuszko Bridge ended with a bang, not a whimper, early Sunday morning.
The old span was dropped by an “energetic felling,” conducted by Controlled Demoltion, Inc. Two sections, composed of more than more than 3,000 feet steel on either side of Newtown Creek, fell onto piles of dirt fill used to absorb the impact.
The section of the old bridge that crossed the creek itself was lowered onto a barge and towed away for disassembly earlier this year.
Though the demolition wasn’t the fiery explosion some had expected, Twitter users from miles around reported hearing the loud bang and being startled awake at 8 am on October 1, when the bridge came down.
Love being startled awake on Sunday morning by the not-quite-distant-enough sound of the controlled explosion of the Kosciusko Bridge
— Sam Biederman (@Biedersam) October 1, 2017
The demolition had been rescheduled multiple times over the summer. The NYPD posted warnings to social media in the days leading up to the final date.
Advisory: Kosciuszko Bridge Implosion 10/1. Loud explosion & temp. closure of BQE on new bridge @ 8AM. Local street closures begin 9/30 10PM pic.twitter.com/waxEbLUW5D
— NYPDCounterterrorism (@NYPDCT) October 1, 2017
The nearly 80-year old bridge was replaced by the first span of the new Kosciuszko Bridge, which opened in April of this year. The new span currently carries both east and westbound traffic. A second span is expected to open in 2020 to accommodate the traffic passing between Brooklyn and Queens.