Video: Lake Champlain Bridge Demolition Explosion

If you like watching big stuff blow up (and who doesn't?), check out this short but sweet video of the Lake Champlain Bridge getting demolished in a controlled explosion this morning. In October, DOT divers discovered that the 80-year-old, 2,184-foot-long bridge, was rapidly deteriorating. The bridge was immediately closed, severely inconveniencing but possibly saving the lives of drivers commuting between Vermont and New York. (The state will continue to operate ferries across the lake while building a new bridge, but the nearest alternative bridge is 100 miles away.) Crews spent more than a week placing 800 pounds of explosives packed into more than 500 charges to bring down the bridge, which cut through the steel at 17,000 feet per second, according to the DOT.