An iconic Hudson Valley structure is no longer as crews brought down the old Tappan Zee Bridge Tuesday.

The demolition was expected to take place between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., but was delayed until  10:52 a.m. Spectators packed The Riverwalk in Tarrytown to see the eastbound portion of the Tappan Zee Bridge come down.

 

Folks gasped when the first explosions and chargers went off and cheered when the span just dropped into the Hudson River.

Explosive charges were used to detonate the support columns on the span, and the charges were timed so that the bridge swayed eastward, away from the main navigation channel.

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The reason explosives were used is because engineers determined the structure was unsound and declared it off-limits to workers. In September 2017, officials had to postpone the opening of the second span of the new bridge after crews heard popping sounds coming from the old bridge.

Now that the bridge it down, the steel will be recovered by Marine salvage teams using chains that have been laid on the riverbed. They'll use the chains to lift up the steal and haul it out by barge.

The western span is scheduled to come down before the end of the year. It is expected that they will not be using explosives and that crews will dismantle the structure.