Video: Lake Champlain bridge demolished

An aging bridge connecting an Upstate New York town to Vermont has been demolished in a controlled explosion that took seconds.

The Lake Champlain Bridge was closed in October, and locals joked about its instability for years. However, the 80-year-old bridge between Crown Point, NY and Chimney Point, VT propped up a “robust interstate economy” and locals who regularly utilized the crossing have been left in the lurch. Many residents rely on the bridge for access to jobs, schools and hospitals, and a new bridge isn’t set to be completed until Summer 2011.

The closure has added two hours and a hundred miles between Crown Point and Chimney Point, with residents often forced to drive around the northern end of the lake. A temporary ferry service is set to be launched in January, but that doesn’t help the many small business owners who have seen their livelihoods tank since the October closure.

Video below shows the bridge crumbling into the icy waters of Lake Champlain.