Posted By: David Zapatka
Bridge explosion and Plum Beach Lighthouse - 05/04/06 09:07 PM
It's taken me some time to get to posting this. On April 18, the State of RI imploded the old Jamestown Bridge on Narragansett Bay. Most of the people watching the explosion were sitting on the shore south of the bridge, but we were on a friend's boat to the north. There was a stiff northeast wind blowing, so once the bridge was exploded, the smoke blew to the south. Being on the north, we had an unobstructed view of the carnage. I wanted to frame the lighthouse and bridge together because of their unique historical relationship. The lighthouse was abandoned in 1941 because of the opening of the original bridge, so its demolition was important in the history of the lighthouse. The original bridge was closed after the completion of the new bridge in 1992, and the state at that time had run out of money to demolish the old one. They let it fall into such disrepair that the Coast Guard ordered the state to destroy it or face severe fines because they felt it was in danger of collapse.
