Bridges falling down

September 1, 2006 7:03 AM

In honor of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, here are YouTube videos of bridges being destroyed. Only this one is sad to watch.
posted by thirteenkiller (13 comments total)

god i hated that bridge.
posted by empath at 7:17 AM on September 1, 2006

While the destruction of Stari Most was certainly the saddest, all of these videos were sad to watch for me (except for the unremarkable steel girder Woodrow Wilson). I love old bridges so much. It's amazing how long a properly-engineered bridge can last, and it's sad to see one being destroyed that probably has decades, if not centuries, of life left.

While those are steel truss bridges shown being destroyed, even old graceful suspension bridges are on the chopping block, such as the Waldo-Hancock Bridge in Maine. During a rehabilitation project it was determined that the cables were too far gone to save. Fortunately, some old bridges like the beautiful 1849 Wheeling, WV Suspension Bridge are still in use after rehabilitation.
posted by zsazsa at 7:32 AM on September 1, 2006

Perhaps the most famous bridge destruction was that at Tacoma Narrows.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:35 AM on September 1, 2006

Don't mess with Mother Nature, or harmonics.
posted by caddis at 7:54 AM on September 1, 2006

BRIDGE PIX, HUH? HOW MANY CELLPHONES YOU GOT, SAHIB?
posted by quonsar at 8:07 AM on September 1, 2006 [2 favorites]

I was in Mostar just a month ago. The rebuilt Stari Most is looking stunning, it's great that the money was there to rebuild it.
posted by knapah at 8:37 AM on September 1, 2006

First thought: cool! Second: how awful to dump all that metal into the water. Third: still cool!
posted by twsf at 9:40 AM on September 1, 2006

I tried to go watch them blow the thing up, but the actual explosion was behind a building... it was pretty disappointing, especially after waiting 40 minutes past when they said they were doing it.
posted by borkingchikapa at 9:59 AM on September 1, 2006

...do they call him Angus the Bridge Destroyer? No. But one sheep....
posted by Smedleyman at 12:00 PM on September 1, 2006

When I visted SeaTac I made sure to take a trip over the New Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
posted by MrLint at 2:06 PM on September 1, 2006

...which is now the old tacoma narrows bridge, as a new new (toll) bridge is under construction.
posted by bizwank at 4:41 PM on September 1, 2006

Hm, the explosion of the Stari Most sounded a lot like a well known explosion sound effect.
posted by bob sarabia at 5:41 PM on September 1, 2006

Can anybody explain for me why the new Wilson Bridge is better than the old one? Traffic is still just as awful as it always was.
posted by etoile at 8:39 AM on September 5, 2006