Latest news with #NickVolk
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
What to know about the 5th instillation of the McClugage bridge demo
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The fifth of eight blasts on the McClugage Bridge is set to take place on Thursday. This blast is set to take place at approximately 9:30 a.m., May 15, weather permitting, and it will be targeted to take out steel girders on the East Peoria side as well as the remainder of the underdeck truss on the Peoria side. With Thursday's detonation, it will be the fifth of eight ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation and is among the final phases of the years-long replacement of the span. Nick Volk, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said at the time that the series of implosions were to create more space for clean-up. The first blast took place on March 27 and aimed to also destroy steel girders on the East Peoria side of the bridge. Three weeks later, on April 9, the second blast was used to destroy the underdeck truss on the Peoria side of the bridge. The third installation of the demolition, was two weeks later, on April 16, and was used to destroy steel girders on the East Peoria side of the bridge. While the fourth instillation — the most recent and biggest demo — took out the main truss of the bridge. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WATCH LIVE: IDOT detonates Peoria-side trusses of old McClugage Bridge span
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Another portion of the old eastbound span of the McClugage Bridge will be demolished Wednesday morning sometime between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Charges have been placed on the underdeck trusses of the span closest to the Peoria side of the Illinois River. WMBD has a crew live at the bridge and you can watch it here. The Illinois Department of Transportation said that roads near the McClugage Bridge in Peoria and East Peoria will close at approximately 9:30 a.m. April 9 due to the impeding 'boom.' The closures are necessary for the ongoing demolition of the old eastbound bridge, which carries U.S. 150 over the Illinois River, and are expected to last about an hour. Traffic will be routed off U.S. 150 at interchange ramps and will be continuously moving. No stopping on U.S. 150 will be allowed. Adams Street (Illinois 29) will remain open in both directions. Last month's explosion, one of seven ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, is among the final phases of the years-long replacement of the span. The explosives will be detonated once the roads are closed, the security perimeter is deemed safe and the contractor has performed their final safety checks. The anticipated blast is scheduled to occur between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Old McClugage Bridge to be imploded Thursday; Effect on Osprey Nest Nick Volk, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said at the time that the six implosions were to create more space for clean-up. Only part of the bridge has been demolished. That portion, Volk said, was to clear a small area which would allow salvage crews easier access to the rest of the bridge when it is taken down over the course of the next few weeks. The bridge project was supposed to be done in 2023 but COVID-19 and supply chain issues pushed it back a year, IDOT has said. Costing about $167 million, the new eastbound bridge has three lanes instead of two and also a 14-foot-wide path that is for walkers and bikers. There will be trailheads on either side of the river and parking lots on either end of the bridge. On the west side of the river, the Ironworkers Memorial, which honors the three men who died when their scaffolding gave way in 2000 during a rehabilitation project on the bridge, will be moved there from its current spot on Lorentz Avenue. The new bridge also looks very different from the old one, featuring a large arch rather than the traditional trusses that are part of the westbound span. Think Interstate 39 bridge that crosses the Illinois near LaSalle and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. And yes, it's painted in IDOT Blue. Next up, the westbound lanes of the bridge will be getting a new deck and some new paint starting next year, but will go to bid later this year. Visit to learn more about this project. For more information on IDOT projects, click here. For IDOT District 4 updates, follow us on Twitter at @IDOTDistrict4 or view area construction details on IDOT's traveler information map on and Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Second in a series of detonations on the McClugage Bridge to occur next week
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The next round of detonations to bring down the old span of the McClugage Bride will be mid next week. That's the word from the Illinois Department of Transportation which said that roads near the McClugage Bridge in Peoria and East Peoria will close at approximately 9:30 a.m. April 9 due to the impeding 'boom.' The closures are necessary for the ongoing demolition of the old eastbound bridge, which carries U.S. 150 over the Illinois River, and are expected to last about an hour. Traffic will be routed off U.S. 150 at interchange ramps and will be continuously moving. No stopping on U.S. 150 will be allowed. Adams Street (Illinois 29) will remain open in both directions. Last month's explosion, one of seven ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, is among the final phases of the years-long replacement of the span. The explosives will be detonated once the roads are closed, the security perimeter is deemed safe and the contractor has performed their final safety checks. The anticipated blast is scheduled to occur between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Old McClugage Bridge to be imploded Thursday; Effect on Osprey Nest Nick Volk, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said at the time that the six implosions were to create more space for clean-up. Only part of the bridge has been demolished. That portion, Volk said, was to clear a small area which would allow salvage crews easier access to the rest of the bridge when it is taken down over the course of the next few weeks. The bridge project was supposed to be done in 2023 but COVID-19 and supply chain issues pushed it back a year, IDOT has said. Costing about $167 million, the new eastbound bridge has three lanes instead of two and also a 14-foot-wide path that is for walkers and bikers. There will be trailheads on either side of the river and parking lots on either end of the bridge. On the west side of the river, the Ironworkers Memorial, which honors the three men who died when their scaffolding gave way in 2000 during a rehabilitation project on the bridge, will be moved there from its current spot on Lorentz Avenue. The new bridge also looks very different from the old one, featuring a large arch rather than the traditional trusses that are part of the westbound span. Think Interstate 39 bridge that crosses the Illinois near LaSalle and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. And yes, it's painted in IDOT Blue. Next up, the westbound lanes of the bridge will be getting a new deck and some new paint starting next year, but will go to bid later this year. Visit to learn more about this project. For more information on IDOT projects, click here. For IDOT District 4 updates, follow us on Twitter at @IDOTDistrict4 or view area construction details on IDOT's traveler information map on and Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Old span of the McClugage Bridge to be demolished in a series of explosions
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A boom, a puff of smoke and it was the beginning of the end for the old eastbound span of the McClugage Bridge which will be brought down in series of controlled demolitions. In an instant, part of the old bridge, which carried cars and trucks over the river for seven decades, was gone. The explosion, one of six ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, is among the final phases of the years-long replacement of the span. Old McClugage Bridge to be imploded Thursday; Effect on Osprey Nest Nick Volk, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the six implosions are to create more space for clean-up. IDOT closed a portion of U.S. Route 150 and ramps at the bridge for safety during the demolition of this part of the now defunct structure. The bridge project was supposed to be done in 2023 but COVID-19 and supply chain issues pushed it back a year, IDOT has said. Costing about $167 million, the new eastbound bridge has three lanes instead of two and also a 14-foot-wide path that is for walkers and bikers. There will be trailheads on either side of the river and parking lots on either end of the bridge. On the west side of the river, the Ironworkers Memorial, which honors the three men who died when their scaffolding gave way in 2000 during a rehabilitation project on the bridge, will be moved there from its current spot on Lorentz Avenue. The new bridge also looks very different from the old one, featuring a large arch rather than the traditional trusses that are part of the westbound span. Think Interstate 39 bridge that crosses the Illinois near LaSalle and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. And yes, it's painted in IDOT Blue. Next up, the westbound lanes of the bridge will be getting a new deck and some new paint starting next year, but will go to bid later this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Old McClugage Bridge to be imploded Thursday; Effect on Osprey Nest
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — It's out with the old and in with the new for the McClugage Bridge connecting Peoria and East Peoria. On Thursday, the first of six implosions of the old eastbound lanes of the bridge will happen in the morning. Nick Volk, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the six implosions are to create more space for clean-up. 'It's getting these out of the way so a ramp or a road can be built because the amount of steel that will be fished out of the water once the truss has dropped is tremendous,' Volk said. 'They'll haul part of it to the Peoria side, part of the East Peoria side, and eventually all haul it to a scrapyard for recycling.' A bridge implosion, Volk said, is rare, and will most likely draw spectators to watch the event. He advises anyone who goes to watch the collapse to stay back, as they have a diagram to model where people can be. 'We are asking for help from the citizens that if you'd like to watch, please do so from a safe distance,' Volk said. 'Please do not trespass onto private property without permission from the landowner.' The process of implosion happens with copper attached to the beams that are heated by metal, which causes them to cut through the steel beams. All explosives attached to the bridge will go off immediately, as the detonator cord burns at 28,000 feet per second, according to Volk. The westbound lanes of the bridge will be getting a new deck and some new paint starting next year, but will go to bid this year. Something you may notice as you drive by the bridge, however, is a bird nest sitting on the easternmost pier of the old bridge. This nest belongs to an Osprey, a state-threatened bird which, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, migrate through Illinois and nest along large rivers and lakes. But no need to fear, this Osprey will still be able to say 'cheep-cheep' as IDOT is going through the proper procedure, as is policy by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to protect the bird. 'We have contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how to handle that in respect to keeping that species safe while the detonation happens,' Volk said. 'This first detonation has nothing to do with the Osprey, so everything will go off without a hitch, but what we are allowed to do again by Fish and Wildlife policies and rules are to remove any sticks that it places up on the bridge in an attempt to build a nest to convince it that it's a bad place to have the nest.' Volk continued with, 'Obviously, we do not want anything negative to happen to an Osprey, any threatened species for that matter, and environmental concerns are a huge part of every IDOT project. So we are currently, as sticks show up, we are removing those in the hopes that the bird chooses one of the other two bridges or another safe place to establish a nest.' Roads will be closed just before 10 a.m. and are expected to be shut down for up to an hour for the implosion. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
