The last underwater piers were demolished 11/29/06.
Clean up will continue unti Feb 2007.
Currently, the old ramp of the bridge extends several hundred feet into the water on the South Kingtown side of the span.

Bridge Demolition part 2

After a 1 day delay due to weather, the second phase of the Jamestown Bridge demolition took place on Thursday 5/18/06. 2,200 feet (1,100 feet on each side of the old bridge) of deck trusses and girder supports along with two concrete piers that once supported the center span were removed with 312 simultaneous detonations containing a total of 1,198 pounds of explosives.

Aerial view before the second detonation.

Bridge demolition

Center span is blow un and crashes into the water 4/18/06.

Plan for demolition

The Jamestown bridge was built in 1940 at a cost of 3 million dollars. The cost to destroy it is 19.4 million dollars. The demolition of the bridge is being run by Demtech and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. The demolition of the center span is likely the most spectacular part of the bridge removal. However, several other blasts will take out other parts of the bridge over the next few weeks.

Jamestown bridge looking east after the center span has been removed



Jamestown bridge looking west after the center space has been removed

History of the bridge

View of the old Jamestown bridge from 138 East on North Kingstown side

Pell (Newport) Bridge

The Jamestown bridge was built in 1940 to get car traffic from the "West Bay" of Rhode Island to Conanicut Island (Jamestown). Prior to 1940 people and cars would have to get to Jamestown by ferry. The bridge was dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" because in true Rhode Island fashion, there was no bridge on the other side of the island to get to Newport (the destination most people wanted to reach) until 29 years later.

Sakonnet River Bridge

From 1940 to 1969, people had to take a ferry to Newport or travel to the other end of the state to Tiverton to take the Stone Bridge (replaced with the Sakonnet River Bridge in 1956 following Hurricaine Carol in 1954) or the Mount Hope Bridge in Bristol (consturucted 1927-1929).

Mount Hope Bridge

The Jamestown bridge was known for its steep grade. Because of the grade, the fact that it was only 2 lanes and featured grates (not solid concrete) at the top, it was known as the scariest road in Rhode Island. The bridge was closed for good in 1992 when it was replaced the the Jamestown-Verazzano bridge.

View of the Jamestown bridge from 138 looking west

Jamestown Bridge demolition

On April 18th, 2006 the central span Jamestown Bridge was demolished with 350 blast charges.
This blog will chronicle the history and demise of what is now referred to in Rhode Island as "The Old Jamestown Bridge."