Louisiana bridge demolition to be featured on UK TV show

Demolition of the O.K. Allen Bridge in Alexandria, Louisiana, will be featured on a European television series. According to a report on TheTownTalk.com, A TV crew from London is flying in to film the demolition for a 10-part series called "The Demolition Man" to be shown in Europe in 2016.

The demolition of the 79-year-old bridge is slated for Saturday, Sept. 26.

The new Curtis-Coleman Memorial Bridge, which is next to the O.K. Allen Bridge, will be to accommodate the demolition and subsequent inspection. Boat traffic on the Red River also will be halted before, during and after the demolition.

According to the article, explosives will be used to separate the bridge's steel superstructure into 14 pieces, which are to drop in the Red River and then be hauled to the river banks where they will be cut up for scrap.

The two-person TV crew from London will be on the river – away from the blast radius – to film the demolition, the report says.

The 10-part show is expected to broadcast in 2016 on a channel called Insights, which the article says is similar to "The Discovery Channel."

The O.K. Allen Bridge opened in 1936 and closed in March when the first span of the Curtis-Coleman Memorial Bridge opened. Work is proceeding on the second span, which is next to what remains of the O.K. Allen Bridge, and that span is expected to be ready by the end of this year.

The concrete from the roadway and the ramps leading to the main span of the old bridge have already been removed, and all that remains is the iconic steel superstructure and the large concrete piers in the Red River, which will be gone after the Sept. 26 demolition. The concrete piers will be removed at a later date.