You're out of time to take one last look at the old Rt. 219 bridge! It came crashing down Thursday morning.
At 10am, the State Department of Transportation took down the South Cascade Drive – Miller Road Bridge (the old Rt. 219 bridge) with a controlled implosion.
Raw video of the implosion:
Raw video of a flyover during the implosion:
Rt. 219 North and South as well as a portion of Scoby Hill Road was closed to traffic during the implosion. They have since re-opened.
The Cattaraugus Creek Gorge was closed to boats and foot traffic starting at daybreak on Thursday. Those restrictions will be in place until the State DOT removes the pieces of the bridge from the creek and the State DOT says these restrictions will be strictly enforced.
First, crews will remove the steel from the creek, then it will be trucked out of the valley. Special equipment will be used to cut up the girders.
Here is a picture of the bridge in the creek from NYS Police:
Some restrictions will remain around the site as construction on the new bridge starts after the cleanup ends.
The State DOT says the implosion to take down the bridge was necessary to replace it with a $16.9 million modern structure, which is slated to be completed by June 2017.
.@NYGovCuomo will use this ceremonial plunger to implode the bridge @WKBW pic.twitter.com/wt7MxrQZ2F
— Desiree Wiley (@DesireeWiley) June 2, 2016
