Demolition of old I-270 bridge today will temporarily close highway next week

UPDATED at 12:00 P.M. with interviews at the scene.

GRANITE CITY By his own count, Erick Larson took 15,000 pictures last year.

On Tuesday, Larson joined more than 150 people who gathered to watch - and, in some cases, photograph - the first of three explosive demolitions of the old Chain of Rocks Canal bridge that once carried Interstate 270.

"I'm a photo nut," Larson, a Collinsville resident, said shortly before the former eastbound span was blasted and its tangled remains fell into the canal. "I'd never done an explosion. No video. Nature. Sporting events."

Illinois transportation officials closed a stretch of I-270 in both directions prior to the blast. The stretch of highway was expected to reopen by noon.

The two 50-year-old canal bridges were replaced last year with a new span.

Kim Green of Granite City used a half day of vacation to snap some pictures of the demolition.

"It's not going to be the same with it gone," Green said after the explosion. "It's going to change the landscape of our area."

An explosion took down a stretch of one span about 10:30 a.m.

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Demolition of old I-270 bridge today will temporarily close highway next week