Two of eight planned demolitions have removed part of Illinois’ old eastbound McClugage Bridge between Peoria and East Peoria.
The first blast March 27 used explosives in seamless metal sheets in the form of an inverted “V,” known as linear shaped charges.
For a full video explaining the implosion and how it works, scroll to the end of this article.
The second blast April 9 demolished part of the underdeck truss toward the Peoria side of the bridge. The following blasts have been scheduled, with the dates of two final blasts to demolish several piers still to be announced:
- Week of April 28: taking down the main truss
- Week of May 5: demolish more steel girders and the remainder of the underdeck truss
- Week of May 12: demolish the final steel girders
The eastbound McClugage Bridge is over 70 years old and carried 20,000 trips a day. The two-lane bridge for eastbound traffic has been replaced, while another three-lane bridge, built in 1982, for westbound traffic will remain intact.
Construction on the new eastbound bridge north of the original pair of bridges began in 2019 and finished in 2024. The Illinois Department of Transportation was the lead agency for construction of the new eastbound McClugage Bridge, and the prime contractor was Johnson Brothers Corporation.
