Demolition began immediately after the bridge was closed to traffic.
The contractor chose to saw the concrete portions of the bridge that were to be replaced into manageable components. A top-down approach was used, the bridge railings being the first components removed, followed by the deck panels, and so on. The fill inside the closed arches at spans 1 and 5 was removed so that inspectors could examine the concrete and reconstruct any damaged drains within the arches. After the columns were removed, AECOM and TDOT personnel performed a detailed inspection to determine the extent of the repairs that would be needed on the tops of the arches.