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The new bridge.
The explosives went off around 10:52 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, bringing down the 64-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge in less than a minute.
With thousands watching live and on TVs and phones, a large flash of smoke and a flash of fire brought down the east anchor span of the bridge, dropping it into the Hudson River where it was caught by chains that will help move it later.
The old bridge, which has its own Twitter site @oldtzb, said it was feeling a bit lighter after the explosion: "Feeling a bit lighter all of a sudden. Like I just lost a bunch of weight. Feeling good, if a little disoriented. Y'all still with me?"
The demolition seemed to go off without a hitch just days after it was originally planned and then canceled due to winds.
And now that it's gone, there's one thing most people can agree upon, they will all feel a little safer crossing the new bridge without having to see the cracks and chasms that made you kind of hold your breath.
Heck, even Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who took a beating over the bridge, said he carried a special tool with him to break car windows and cut the seatbelt if the "old thing" went down.
Now, it's back to work with tons of steel to be removed from the riverbed and hauled away by barges, and then the work moves closer to the Rockland side with the removal of another anchor span.
Plans for taking apart that section include removing it piece by piece instead of using explosives. A date for the removal has not been set.
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