University News

The Bridge That Was: University Removes 1970s Footbridge

July 16, 2024 • By Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu

Portrait of the Emmet Street Bridge Demolition.

The Ridley Footbridge over Emmet Street is gone.

The bridge, built in the early 1970s as part of the construction of what is now the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, was dismantled over the weekend. Facilities Management closed Emmet Street Thursday night to allow contractor S.B. Cox of Richmond to begin the demolition of the bridge, starting with breaking up the concrete pad on the bridge’s surface with jackhammers mounted on the articulated arms of excavators.

Once that was accomplished, welders with torches cut through I-beams on the exposed steel support structure, then lowered the segments to street level. Dump trucks hauled away the debris starting early Friday morning.

A platform of planks protected the surface of Emmet Street underneath the bridge. The street reopened at 7 a.m. on Sunday, ahead of schedule.

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The University recently opened a new bridge over Emmet Street just a few yards to the north, connecting Newcomb Road South with the new Contemplative Commons building. The new bridge complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which the old bridge – with sets of stairs at either end – did not.

Flashing police lights are blocking the road due to bridge demolition.

Workers with torches cut through some of the bridge supports after the concrete surface was removed. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

Side view of the bridge being demolished.

The footbridge removal started late Thursday night, after a small section of Emmet Street was closed. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

Construction worker using jackhammers removing rock.

Contractors used jackhammers on articulated arms to break up the concrete surface of the footbridge and steps. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

The footbridge debuted in the early 1970s as part of the construction of what is now the School of Education and Human Development. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

workers using torches to dismantle the steel structure of the bridge.

With the concrete surface of the footbridge removed, workers used torches to dismantle the steel structure of the bridge. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

Workers using protective gear to take down the bridge.

Workers used protective gear while taking down the footbridge that spanned Emmet Street. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

Dump trucks began hauling away the concrete debris from the bridge surface early Friday morning. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)