WASHINGTON, 30 August 2006 - Washington is a high-wired place, which may explain all the drama focused on the destruction of a local bridge.
At midnight on Monday, a portion of the Old Woodrow Wilson Bridge came tumbling to the ground with a flash of light.
That's right, with a flash of light - but no actual explosion - just large kaboom! and a huge crash, brought 2,600 tons of steel from the old bridge down just yards from streets lined with historic brick homes that date to first American President George Washington's time.
Would you believe the person who blew up the bridge had been chosen from several hundred contestants as having had the worst number of accidents on that bridge? Wilson Bridge commuter Dan Ruefly detonated the 45-year-old span, and was selected from more than 312 entries as the winner of a contest to find the person who suffered the most frustration at the hands of the drawbridge. His toughest commute came in September 1999 when he switched lanes and slammed into a stopped tractor-trailer straddling the right lane and the bridge's four-foot-wide shoulder. His hip was crushed and he still walks with a limp. Having learned his lesson, he now leaves his home at 5 a.m. each weekday to avoid the worst of the traffic.
Which brings us back locals focusing so much of their energy on this bridge.
The bridge has plagued generations of Washingtonians by causing major traffic jams. Regional authorites began building a replacement bridge in 2000 to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, which carries the Capital Beltway across the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia just south of the District of Columbia.
The Wilson bridge has long been one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in a region notorious for gridlock. Backups can stretch for miles when the drawbridge is raised 270 times per year to let boats through.
As the midpoint of Interstate 95, the East Coast's busiest highway, the bridge also handles a heavy flow of long-distance traffic. The old six-lane bridge was taken out of service last month when work was completed on a new span. Removing the old bridge will clear the path of construction of the second half of the new bridge. Many local residents wonder why the old bridge just can't slip quietly away into the night, rather than being destroyed at the midnight hour.
"As if the neighbors haven't suffered enough!" said Democrat Alexandria City Council member Redella S. "Del" Pepper.
Bridge officials said they scheduled the demolition of the half-mile section well past bedtime because they had to close the Capital Beltway starting about 30 minutes before the blast and didn't want to stall daytime traffic. The explosion was similar to a thunderclap and severe enough that bridge officials will monitor nearby homes for damage, experts said. Residents were not allowed within 500 feet of the site.
But that will not end the nightmare for Alexandria residents. Once the old bridge comes down, a new one that is planned to open in 2008 will be built in its place. That means pile driving and noisy construction will begin this fall and continue for months.
