Mulholland Bridge demolition a breeze for Volvo high reaches

"Carmageddon' was averted in Los Angeles, USA, in early July when the south side of the Mulholland Bridge carrying the Interstate 405 was demolished. The I405 was closed in both directions from the evening of 15 July and reopened on the 17th when the work was completed 17 hours ahead of schedule.

Before work started, it was predicted that the closure would cause traffic chaos in the city, hence the term Carmageddon, but in the event traffic was considerably lighter than expectd, with no serious delays resulting from the work

The south bridge will be rebuilt with an additional lane and the north section then demolished in turn when construction work on the south side is complete. Miller Environmental used two Volvo EC460DLC high reaches carrying hydraulic breakers to help bring down the 175 m (579 ft) high structure on behalf of main contractor Keiwitt. A total of 4,000 tonnes of concrete rubble is expected to result from the demolition.