WS was in Portsmouth on a job near noon on the day the Memorial Bridge was slated to have it's center span removed. Noontime was when they were hoping to get it onto the barge, and WS thought it would be cool to see, so he drove down there to eat his lunch. He said there were gobs of people watching, but unfortunately, the crews were running behind, so the bridge didn't come down until later. He did, however, snap a picture with his phone:
The portion that is up in the air (the draw), is the part that was removed. Plenty of pictures on ULocal (hosted by the local TV station). Scroll thru until you come to the ones taken at daybreak - great photography there. There are others that show the two massive cranes used to remove the counterweights during the operation.
Here is a video of the point where the bridge is on the barge. Here is the same video - but it works better on this page.
Then there is the time-lapse video. The end leaves a bit to be desired, but that part is shown much more clearly on the previous videos.
This next video is of the beginning of the float out - with sound. You can hear the people cheering and whistling - must have really been something to see in person!
May the new bridge (slated to open in 2013) serve as well and as long as the old bridge.
"Memorial Bridge Demolition" was the most informative of all the WMUR videos concerning the bridge; and, they are all wonderful. What an awesome crowd they recorded at the night time scene - very enthusiastic. Thanks for letting us know about your bridge. (How is the name of the river spelled?)
Posted by: Cop Car | February 11, 2012 at 09:52 AM
P.S. Your WS's phone takes good photos. I probably should credit WS, rather than the phone! *grinning*
Posted by: Cop Car | February 11, 2012 at 09:54 AM
Piscataqua (piz-'cat-a-qwa)
The Wikipedia entry was updated quickly I see.
The Foster's Daily Democrat has a story that says: "Cota said this next crane would make the two on scene all week to help position the barge and lift span to be properly removed, look small." That should be some crane!
Posted by: bogie | February 11, 2012 at 02:20 PM
Thanks for the spelling lesson. It looks (about) the way it sounded on the news report; but, I wasn't sure that I had heard it correctly.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 12, 2012 at 06:08 PM