WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Transportation officials say the damaged piers beneath the reopened Interstate 495 bridge are being dismantled and removed.
The Department of Transportation says the four piers beneath the bridge over the Christina River no longer support the weight of the bridge. Spokesman Gregory Layton says the bridge is resting on a stronger subsurface foundation and temporary steels towers and header beams.
The removal process involves sawing the piers into sections of concrete, then lowering the sections to the ground. New piers will be erected.
The project will take several weeks.
The 4,800-foot bridge, which carries an average of about 90,000 vehicles daily, was closed June 2 after state officials learned that several supporting columns were tilting.
The bridge fully reopened on July 31.
