Nov 17, 2009 By Amy Revak 3 min read

POINT MARION – The bridge that carried traffic between Fayette and Greene counties for nearly eight decades imploded and fell into the Monongahela River Monday morning during a planned explosion that went off without a hitch. The demolition of the 79-year-old Point Marion Bridge occurred slightly before 9 a.m. and traffic resumed on the new $21 million bridge beside the old bridge within an hour.

An average of 3,700 vehicles cross the Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge every day.

The Point Marion Bridge, which is locally known as the Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge, carries Route 88 between Fayette and Greene counties.

Valerie Peterson, community relations coordinator for the state Department of Transportation, said the event went really well.

Petersen, who was on hand to watch the bridge fall into the river, said people were lined along the area to watch, and started lining up early in the morning.

“I was impressed with the number of people,” Petersen said.

Families with children were among those who watched the spectacle.

In addition to townspeople, television helicopters were also on hand to watch the bridge plunge into the water.

An 800-foot safety area was established around the bridge to ensure everyone would be safe in the event some debris would fly away from the bridge.

Petersen said on Saturday safety checks were conducted to ensure the bridge was ready.

Three blasts were made and two minutes later the bridge dropped.

Petersen said it was very well orchestrated.

Although she was more than 800 feet away, Petersen said she could feel the wind blow at the time of the explosion.

The bridge fell straight down and crews have already begun removing it from the bottom of the river, Petersen said.

The old bridge pieces will travel along the river to a recycler.

The new bridge opened to traffic last month.

Petersen said the new bridge, which at spots was within a few feet of the old bridge, was checked to make sure it was structurally sound before traffic could again begin using it after the explosion.

The demolition was of the main span.

An additional two spans will be taken down in the future, Petersen said.

The old bridge was among 5,880 structurally deficient bridges in the state that have been targeted either for replacement or rehabilitation.

State investments to fix a backlog of bridge maintenance projects increased from $259 million in 2002 to almost $1 billion a year today, according to PennDOT.

The number of structurally deficient bridges shrank from 6,034 in 2008 to 5,881 as of July, PennDOT said.