The original Port Mann Bridge stood tall in British Columbia for nearly 50 years before officials decided to replace it with a wider bridge of the same name. Built in 1964, was four lanes wide and, at the time it was built was the most expensive stretch of road in Canada. The new bridge it was replaced by spans 10 lanes wide and held the title of the widest bridge in the world until the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was completed in 2013.
Related video: This Timelapse Video of a 10 Hour Highway Overpass Demolition is Poetry in Motion
Demolition of the old bridge began in 2012 when the new bridge officially opened and just finished up in October of 2015. The bridge is located in an extremely busy area with railroad tracks nearby, so several different methods of demolition had to be used. The timelapse below shows 3 years’ worth of worth condensed down to a little more than 30 seconds. I’m sure it didn’t feel anywhere near that short for the crews on site every day. There’s also a bonus video below that that shows on of the 230 foot (70m) long girders being imploded in a blaze of glory.
On Tuesday morning, February 23, the Syracuse Fire Department responded to a call about a collapsed crane on a construction site near the university. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.