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ROUTE
27 BRIDGE
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Curran was cleaning and re-packing the last of his seismic
equipment, Protec's Brent Blanchard was stepping from
an airplane half a world away in Lexington, Kentucky.
His subsequent 130-mile drive through the heart of the
Smokey Mountains towards Tennessee eventually brought
him to the small town of Burnside, where demolition crews
with NADC-member Demtech, Inc. were hard at work attaching
explosives to the State Route 27 Bridge. |
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A
meeting with blaster Steve Rainwater confirmed
his plan to blast the sprawling 1,200-foot long
span in two phases, and this initial 615-foot
phase would prove the trickiest. The bridge had
originally been constructed over a narrow stretch
of the Cumberland River, however the Army Corps
of Engineers later dammed the river to create
Cumberland Lake, which increased the water's depth
to 130 feet. With 15 individual sections of the
bridge plunging to that depth, complete severance
of each section was critical.
While
Rainwater supervised pre-burning and the precise
attachment of 224 linear RDX charges, the General
Contractor, Massman Construction Co., attached
empty 50-gallon drums to each span segment using
long steel cables. The floating drums would allow
divers to find and retrieve each segment with
minimal delay.
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| Despite
the size of the operation, local townspeople knew surprisingly
little about the project…that is until they saw dozens
of bright yellow drums being placed atop the structure.
Protec's role was to contact all residents and businesses
within a 1,000-foot radius of the bridge and reassure
them that there was nothing to fear from the operation.
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officials expressed particular concern over the
safety of the Jordan Baptist Church and Christian
Academy, which sat along the south riverbank as
the closest structures to the blast. |
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Blanchard
met with the Pastor and documented the entire complex
in detail, paying particular attention to several large
glass windows facing the span. The men then developed
a plan to allow the schoolchildren to witness the event
from atop a nearby hill with minimal disruption to classes.
"My
experience has been that most people are accommodating
to these events so long as their concerns are addressed
in an accurate and congenial manner," explained
Blanchard. "In this case, it quickly became evident
that both the Pastor and contractors could benefit from
the student's ability to personally experience the demolition,
albeit from a safe distance."
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Blanchard
then placed seismographs at both church structures,
and another atop the new Route 27 Bridge located
twelve feet west of the old span. He then took up
a position at the end of a nearby railroad bridge
that spanned the same waterway to assist with spectator
control while awaiting the final countdown. |
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All
was proceeding normally when, with less than three minutes
to detonation, he suddenly spotted a man in a hardhat
attempting to walk out onto a section of the rail bridge
that was completely exposed to the blast. "We later
learned that he was an employee of the railroad assigned
to help secure the zone, and for some reason he decided
to leave his assigned position and treat himself to
a better view." Rainwater also noticed the violator,
and immediately held the countdown.
Once
the blast perimeter was re-secured, the count proceeded,
and a thunderous blast echoed through the valley. 750
tons of steel splashed hard into the lake, creating
a furious pother of dust and foam. As the churning waters
gradually settled, cheering onlookers and contractors
alike were greeted with a thin row of bright yellow
drums bobbing on the water's surface.
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According
to Blanchard, although spectator intrusions are rare,
assisting with crowd control is an important part
of Protec's role. "Most people assume that handling
explosives is the most dangerous aspect of these projects.
However, blasters consistently state that crowd control
causes them more stress than any other element of
their job. I guess it's just human nature that people
want to witness these events by any means possible,
including the occasional policemen or guard who cheats
in too close. We're not bashful about holding the
countdown or pulling anyone back…whatever it
takes to help keep the job safe."
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