Pittsburgh’s Parkway East reopened a full week ahead of schedule after crews imploded the old Commercial Street bridge, and drivers were thrilled to get their commute back early. But it turns out the story wasn’t quite finished when that bridge came down. About 24 hours after the blast, while cleanup crews were clearing debris from the site, a piece of equipment struck a stick of dynamite that never went off during the original implosion. It detonated right there on camera.
The moment was caught on PennDOT’s construction cameras around 7:40 a.m. on the 17th, and the footage shows a sudden plume of dust filling the air while workers scatter and others turn to see what just happened. Nobody expected a second explosion a full day after the demolition was supposed to be finished.
District 11 senior assistant construction manager John Meyler confirmed to KDKA that an operator working the cleanup struck what he called a piece of unknown, unexploded dynamite, and it went off. The demolition contractors had already swept the site after Thursday’s implosion and given the all clear, but Friday’s surprise sent them right back in to comb the area again, just to be sure nothing else was hiding in the rubble.
The good news, and honestly the only news that really matters here, is that nobody was hurt and no equipment was damaged. About 12 hours after the second blast, crews got the all clear again and went back to work. PennDOT says it doesn’t plan to pursue any further investigation into the contractor, chalking the whole thing up to what Meyler described as an errant mistake in the process.
What Actually Happened at the Site
Bridge implosions look simple from the outside. Charges go off, the structure drops, everyone claps, and the road reopens. What doesn’t always make the highlight reel is the painstaking cleanup that follows, where crews are essentially picking through a demolition site by hand and machine looking for anything that shouldn’t be there.
In this case, CBS News Pittsburgh reported that it included a single stick of dynamite that somehow didn’t detonate with the rest of the charges the day before.
Why This Happens More Than You’d Think
Unexploded ordnance, even on a controlled demolition, is a known risk in the industry. Charges are set in multiple locations and detonated in sequence, and it only takes one connection issue or a slightly damp charge for a single stick to get left behind.
It’s rare enough to make headlines, but not so rare that demolition crews don’t have protocols already built around it, which is exactly why a second sweep happened before anyone went back to work.
Our Take
Look, nobody wants to hear “leftover dynamite” and “construction site” in the same sentence, but this is honestly a best case scenario version of a scary situation. The crew caught it, nobody was hurt, and the road stayed open. If anything, it’s a reminder that these massive infrastructure projects have a lot more moving parts than the average driver ever thinks about.
We’re just glad the only casualty here was everyone’s nerves for about ten seconds of dashcam footage.