Caltrans is putting the implosion of the old Bay Bridge's largest pier on hold due to some difficulty with the dynamite.
Rather than imploding the concrete pier on Saturday as originally planned, the detonation will be done around 1pm Nov. 14 at slack tide. Caltrans received the dynamite about a week ago, but found that the cardboard packaging might not be strong enough to hold together for the implosion, which is expected to take 20,000 pounds of explosives in 20 to 35 pound charges throughout the pier, SF Gate reports.
The charges would be detonated so that the top 50 feet of the hollow pier would collapse inward. Once the rest of the old Bay Bridge's eastern span is removed, Caltrans plans to implode more than a dozen of the remaining piers. The blast will require a shutdown of the Bay Bridge in both directions starting about 15 minutes before the scheduled implosion.
BART also will close the Transbay Tube for the duration of the implosion, which should take about six seconds. Boats will be diverted 1,500 feet from the pier and the bike path will be closed. [SFGate]
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