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DOT Rapidly Demolishing I-75 Span

Posted Jun 6, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Jun 6, 2008 at 08:34 AM

Heavy equipment with clawlike booms scraped and tore at the charred remains of the Interstate 75 bridge near Ellenton all through the night, and about three-quarters of one section had been removed by daybreak, said Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Debbie Tower just before 8 a.m. today.

  News Channel 8 photo by CHIP OSOWSKI

“We did start the demolition on the northern span of the southbound lanes at 9:15 last night,” she said, “and we’ve made very good progress. The last update this morning is that a good part of the bridge is down.”

Two sections, or spans, that stretch between supports, or piers, are damaged beyond repair. The bridge is the northern end of the 2-mile span that goes over the Manatee River. The damaged portion actually is over U.S. 301.

Northbound lanes of I-75 remained open, although beginning today, crews will prepare that span for two-way traffic. Tower said the three northbound lanes will be divided down the middle with concrete barriers, making two lanes in each direction. The barriers will be placed beginning today, she said, but the diversion of southbound traffic to the northbound bridge might not begin until next week.

The goal, she said, is to get it done by Monday morning, but realistically, it might not happen until midweek. Fill dirt and pavement crossing the median north of the bridge must be in place before the first southbound vehicles are diverted, she said.

Meanwhile, huge demolition equipment is working around the clock to pull down the structure, she said.

“That’s continuing right now,” she said. “The crane we’re using, we call it the claw. It’s sort of like Pac-Man. It reaches into the beams and claws, grabbing pieces of concrete and pulling it down. The goal is to get them down as quickly as possible so we can start building new spans as quickly as possible.”

Southbound traffic is being diverted from I-75 to Interstate 275 and then south to U.S. 41 into Bradenton and east on State Road 64 back to I-75 south of the river.