70-Year-Old Pennsylvania Bridge Dropped 200 Feet into Mud Run Gorge (Video)
Watch crews blow up the 1-million-pound midsection of the steel truss bridge after a new span was constructed.
machineryasia After opening the its replacement earlier this year, crews in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, began controlled demolition of the old Hawk Falls Bridge in the Mud Run Gorge.
The first, 1-million-pound section of the old bridge’s steel truss was demolished this month by the project's contractor, Trumbull Corporation. Crews first removed the old deck and steel stringers then strategically separated the truss in five areas to be dropped individually 150 to 220 feet into the gorge.
To watch a video of the first portion of the old Hawk Falls Bridge fall into the Mud Run Gorge, scroll to the end of this article.
Demolition of the 1950s-era bridge brings the $88 million Hawk Falls Bridge Project near its end. The new bridge has a 720-foot steel deck, weathering steel and no expansion joints for better long-term maintenance needs, durability and safety. The new bridge carries two lanes over the Mud Run Gorge in both directions and gives 24,000 motorists, on average daily, wider shoulders and median space.
Demolition was chosen as the safest method for removing the bridge after accounting for limited access to the steep Mud Run Gorge below and difficulty maintaining the old structure’s stability if it were disassembled piece by piece.
Controlled demolition to remove the remaining steel truss will take place over the next few weeks.
Work on the new bridge began in 2022, and crews ultimately used 3,304 tons of structural steel, 4,800 cubic yards of concrete and over 1.1 million pounds of rebar. The full project also replaced the Hickory Run Road Bridge near Penn Forest and Kidder.
The Hawk Falls Bridge Project won a National Recognition Award for Structural Systems this year from the American Council of Engineering Companies.
