Explosive demolition of the Old U.S. 60 Cumberland River “Smithland” Bridge is scheduled to take place Thursday morning at 9:00.
District 1 spokesman Keith Todd with the state transportation cabinet says traffic will be halted on the new bridge starting promptly at 8:30 Thursday morning.
According to Todd, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Jim Smith Contracting, and a demolition contractor worked out final plans for the explosive demolition with Livingston County Emergency Management and the U.S. Coast Guard during a meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Todd indicates the explosives crew plans to take down the truss and some of the approach spans with one coordinated blast at 9:00 Thursday morning. He says a police siren will sound at that time, with the blast to follow a 10-second countdown.
The contractor has established a 1500-foot clear zone around the blast site, and the public is asked to stay out of the clear zone to avoid delaying the detonation.
Furthermore, Todd says the explosive demolition of the old bridge will require the new U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge to be closed to traffic for about two hours starting at 8:30 Thursday morning. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard has authorized the contractor to halt commercial tow boat and pleasure boat traffic for up to 36 hours on the Cumberland River to allow a barge-mounted crane to remove pieces of the steel truss from the river.
Todd says a viewing area for the public will be at the Livingston County Fairgrounds.
Once the initial blast has taken down the main truss and approach spans, two additional blasts will be scheduled at about two-week intervals to take down the remnants of the old bridge, including the concrete piers and concrete abutments.
