The demolition contractor on the old Ledbetter Bridge has halted efforts to top Pier C until Monday.
The in-water pier closest to the McCracken County shoreline of the Tennessee River was pulled over Tuesday. The demolition crew moved to rig the pier nearest the Livingston County shoreline with the hope of topping it Wednesday. However, the pier turned out to be more resilient than expected.
The contractor used an industrial-strength jackhammer mounted on an excavator in attempt to weaken the pier above the water line so it could be pulled over into a trench outside of the navigation channel.
The demolition crew made several unsuccessful attempts to pull over the 83 year old pier, today. As dark approached, engineers chose to halt the demolition work and wait to resume efforts Monday, following the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Once Pier C is topped, the contractor has tentative plans to use explosives to detonate the remaining portion of the two in-water piers around Dec. 4.
