Piece by piece, workmen are tearing down the old Chester Bridge, which had spanned the Ohio River since 1896.
Demolition of the bridge is costing Ohio $168,000, more than half the $300,000 it cost private developers to erect the span 74 years ago. The bridge, bought by the state in 1938, was closed last year as being unsafe.
The bridge to Chester, W. Va., was opened Dec. 31, 1896, following nine months of construction.
Demolition will take less than half that time. Work began in mid-August and will be completed about the end of November according to the contractors, Crain Brothers, Inc., of Glenfield, Pa.
Crain officials said the bridge contains about 4,000 tons of steel which will be sold as scrap.
They have found no buyers yet for the huge sandstone blocks which make up the four bridge piers, two in the river and one on each shore.
