After decades of use and months of planning, it took just seconds for the Fort Steuben Bridge to come down.


The bridge was imploded as scheduled at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday and no problems were reported, Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 Bridge Engineer Waseem Khalifa said.

The bridge crumbled in a matter of seconds following a series of small blasts. Initial charges were first visible across the deck of the bridge followed by secondary charges on the towers.

-- Fort Steuben Bridge Implosion Videos

-- Photo Timeline Leading Up To The Bridge's Implosion

-- Historical Photos Of The Fort Steuben Bridge

ODOT officials said that crews were standing by to begin removing the debris from the river. That process was scheduled to be completed by nightfall Tuesday.

The Joseph B. Fay Co. -- the same company that worked to bring down the 118-year-old Bridgeport Bridge last September -- worked with Controlled Demolition Inc. to execute this much larger job.


Crews used 490 shaped charges and 153 pounds of explosives that had been strategically mounted in 136 locations all over the bridge.


"Basically what we're doing is just cutting the steel. We're using almost like a remote torch but we'll be 500 feet away when we detonate it," said Doug Loizeaux of Controlled Demolition Inc.


The truss and cable sections of the bridge were blasted, which rotated the two main towers toward each shoreline. Just milliseconds later, the towers shot into sections, making it easier for crews to remove parts from the Ohio River.



Several parts of the bridge were removed well in advance to prepare for the implosion.


Officials set up a safety zone for spectators consisting of about a 1,000-foot radius around the bridge. Traffic on the neighboring Veterans Memorial Bridge, State Route 7 and U.S. Route 22 was briefly halted by the implosion and resumed shortly after the blast.



Water traffic will be suspended for about a day because the U.S. Coast Guard required the river be back open within 24 hours. A Pittsburgh-based company will use heavy machinery to load pieces of the bridge onto several barges. Some of the pieces are expected to weigh as much as 120,000 pounds.


The 83-year-old bridge was one of four similar bridges built across the Ohio River in 1929 and had wire cables suspending its 1,255-foot span. Of the four like it, the Fort Steuben Bridge is the last to be demolished.


Travel demand for the Fort Steuben Bridge continued to decrease over the years as weight restrictions were placed on the aging structure. In 1990, the Veterans Memorial Bridge was built, serving as a new connector for Brooke and Jefferson counties, and relocating the increasing volume of Route 22 traffic from the deteriorating bridge.


The Fort Steuben Bridge closed to traffic in January 2009 and was deemed structurally deficient and functionally obsolete by the Ohio Department of Transportation.


According to ODOT, its narrow lanes could not have been widened and engineers had a growing concern over the integrity of the wire rope suspension bridge. During a routine inspection, crews found a deflection on the bridge deck -- a shifted slab of concrete on the underside of the bridge -- which prompted its immediate closure.


Whether people watched in person, on TV or online, the sight was jaw-dropping.

"It was so cool. I've really never seen anything like that. The coolest part was the sound. You just felt it like rumble," Ashley Lawrence, of Steubenville. "It just happened and it was so fast, there was no time to react until afterwards."


Ashley Lawrence, of Steubenville, recorded the implosion with her cellphone and applause from other people could be heard on the video.


"Afterwards, with all of the cheering, it was just an excitement and very overwhelming," Lawrence said.


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