The Old Bay Bridge is Getting Blown Up
Just a week delayed, now we can finally get ready for Pier E3 of the Bay Bridge to get demolished. The $20 million plan is to now detonate the pier around slack tide on November 14th, probably about 1 pm.
The implosion will last only six seconds and will take place mostly underwater. But we still think this is a pretty bad ass way to get rid of a bridge.
When: Scheduled for Nov. 14th, probably around 1 pm
Bridge: Traffic will be closed in both directions about 15 minutes before the implosion. The bicycle and pedestrian path will be closed at 6 pm on Nov. 13th.
BART: Transbay Tube will be shut down briefly before the blast.
Boats: Kept 1,500 feet from the pier.
How to watch: Caltrans plans to put the implosion online. Visit dot.ca.gov/e3implosion/ or follow #E3implosion on Twitter for details.
#CaltransNewsFlash #52: Final preparations underway for Nov. 14 Bay Bridge #E3Implosion – https://t.co/0D76iOMwXk pic.twitter.com/sBdQrPyKCD
— Caltrans HQ (@CaltransHQ) November 3, 2015
Caltrans will explode (well, actually “implode”) the largest concrete pier E3 of the old Bay Bridge, instead of taking it apart slowly as was the original plan. This is not “meant” be a spectacle, but let’s be real here – this sounds to us like an action movie come to life. And this part of the demolition costs about $160 million. It should take about 6 seconds and much of the explosion will take place underwater.
Pier E3 is the first of about 20 piers that may need to be imploded. It’s the one that’s closest to Yerba Buena Island.
And for protection (and likely to prevent looky-loos), traffic will be shut down on the new Bay Bridge for about 15 minutes surrounding the detonation.
SF Gate says, “…the event will not be much of a show, in part because much of it will happen underwater, and the top of the pier will be covered with a massive “construction mat” to minimize the amount of debris that will rain down on the bay.”
