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On Nov. 17, 2016, at 3:03 p.m., 39,852 days after the first vehicle crossed Saskatoon’s Traffic Bridge, the last remaining span of the historic bridge fell to the berm beneath it.

An excavator machine clawed away at the northernmost concrete pier until the span collapsed on Thursday. The other three spans were brought down with explosives in two separate demolition events that drew thousands of spectators in January and February.

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A consortium contracted by the city built the berm — a small peninsula — under the bridge so the span can be removed to make way for its replacement. The total demolition of the final span will be accomplished over about two weeks, much like the original span that once stood over Saskatchewan Crescent. It was torn down in October 2012.

Workers are tearing down the final span with heavy equipment rather than explosives because the consortium doing the work has determined the concrete piers that date back more than a century need too much work to preserve them. The original plan to rebuild the bridge entailed keeping the three existing piers.