Any of you Angelenos know why the overpass isn’t being taken down with explosives?
Why? Explosives cause too much scatter. They can take it down very easily using conventional equipment and not have to bother with permits, warnings, cleanup and all the other fallout from dynamite. Besides, tearing it down with equipment keeps the bridge in chunks, making it easier to haul away.
The sucker is also full of rebar, which would limit the effectiveness of explosives.
Because the world isn’t a comic book?
I understand your uncertainty. No matter how much we think that we are not just illustrations, it could just be a letterer putting those words in our thought balloons.
Of course not blowing up the bridge is evidence that we are not a comic book, because that would be way cooler.
You also don’t want to damage the 405 running under the bridge. Big hunks of uncontrolled falling bridge would cause so much damage that the repairs to the freeway would take far longer (and be more expensive) than just cutting it up a piece at a time.
Factual answer: I saw this on the news and someone posed this exact question. The reason is that they discovered gas lines running through and/or near the bridge. They don’t want to cause something worse
Bridges are sometimes dynamited because there’s nothing below but river. And of course buildings are imploded, but that requires huge cleanups after. Even these are rarer than other forms of takedowns. Many buildings have to be taken apart piece by piece because of the proximity of nearby buildings, or because of the danger of scattering asbestos, or because of underground parking garages, or any number of issues. Explosions look like a quick and easy solution, but they are seldom a good answer outside of media.
Saw in a LA Times blog post (don’t believe it was an “official” article), they were worried about breaking windows in the various mansions in the general area of the bridge (among the other reasons already mentioned).
Only half of the overpass is being taken down this weekend, so I’d imagine that they also don’t want to damage the remaining half.
I think that’s the main reason, although I don’t know why they’re don’t just do the whole thing all at once. As of 4:00pm Saturday it looks like they’re almost done.