Landmark 1940 Bridge Across Bay Comes Down

The landmark Jamestown Bridge, for decades a primary link across Narragansett Bay between North Kingstown and Newport, was demolished by a planned explosion.

Explosives in the bridge’s center span were detonated, and the span plunged into the bay.

Before the Jamestown Bridge opened in 1940, Conanicut Island’s only link to the rest of the state was an unreliable ferry system that often did not run in bad weather. Traffic is now routed across the nearby Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge, which was closed for the demolition.