Tappan zee bridge Implosion Demolition

AIRVŪZ STAFF NOTE : Osullivanstudios brings us this amazing aerial of the destruction of New York City's Tappan Zee Bridge. It crosses the Hudson River at one of its widest points, and at almost 5 km (about 3 mi.) it was the state's longest span when it opened in 1955. In the early 2000's, it became something of a poster-child for crumbling US infrastructure, and a $6 billion+ package was assembled to build a replacement. The new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge opened in 2017, following which the original bridge was demolished.

almost 7 years ago

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This implosion had to be one of the coolest things that I have ever shot with a drone. Watching the footage live and then feeling the impact of the shockwave on my chest was surreal. The original plans were to avoid the use of explosives that could have an impact on fish habitats, but experts determined the old bridge was structurally unsound, preventing workers from continuing a piecemeal takedown. To record audio, I set up a separate camera, with a big microphone pointing at the bridge which was mostly blocked by a tree. Unfortunately, people assumed that my “fancy camera” was an indication that it was the best viewing spot so they surround the camera and got their own cameras ready while they chatted directly into my microphone. Despite the fact that I keep telling them that the best spot for a photo was about 50 feet to the left (and that's true BTW) they stuck around. I asked them multiple times not to try and talk directly into the mic... they ignored me. My favorite line, from their constant talking, start at :27seconds.