Built in 1930, the Coplay-Northampton Bridge connects Coplay in Lehigh County at Chestnut and North Front streets over the Lehigh River and railroad tracks to East Ninth and Main streets in Northampton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. As part of a three-year project, this bridge has been demolished as the concrete had started to degrade and the bridge was no longer able to support the weight it was intended to.
WAE designed the deck removal of the arch bridge structure. For the blasting of the arch ribbon, we designed the maximum of steel reinforcement that could be cut prior to blasting the arch. We also checked the stability of the remaining piers after the blast.
Check out this YouTube video showing the controlled demolition on October 11, 2017. https://goo.gl/kCFCuh
