Third span of Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge demolished

UPDATE: 3/23/17, 8:30 A.M. Caltrans tore town the third span of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge successfully. Crews have now ordered steel to build the replacement bridge, which they say will take six months to complete.

PREVIOUS STORY: Caltrans is taking another crack at Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge Wednesday. A crane malfunction put the demolition on hold Monday.

The bridge columns were stubborn, but crews did have better luck — the wrecking ball finally smashed the concrete, leaving a more obvious crack compared to their previous attempt.

Caltrans said crews never used the crane before and the free-falling winch was locked, not giving enough force to the 6,000-pound wrecking ball.

The problem has been solved, but taking down the bridge has proven to be harder than anticipated. Caltrans said there are limited options in terms of what crews can do.

“We have an active utility line on the down canyon side, so that’s not an option for us to swing at the bridge. On the up-canyon side, if we were to swing at it that way, there’s a big chance the bridge could actually fall down the canyon to make it much more challenging to retrieve the pieces,” Caltrans engineer David Galarza said.

Depending how far the crane can reach, Caltrans said it may have to consider other methods to take down the south end of the bridge.

Crews will be back Thursday at 7 a.m. to put more of a dent in the bridge.