Demolition of old Port of Long Beach bridge set for May

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Work to demolish Southern California’s old Gerald Desmond Bridge in the Port of Long Beach will begin in May. The port’s Back Channel will be closed to vessels from May 7 to May 9 so that the main span can be disconnected and lowered onto a barge. The 5,134-foot-long opened in 1968 and was decommissioned when a towering replacement bridge opened in October 2020. The old bridge rises 155 feet above the water. The new bridge has a 205-foot clearance over the channel, allowing large cargo vessels to more easily access the port’s Inner Harbor.