NARRAGANSETT -- If you blinked, you missed it.
And nobody wanted to miss it.
Hundreds stood on the beach of the University of Rhode Island's Bay campus this morning, staring east toward the doomed Jamestown bridge, while the strong wind made their eyes water.
Officials gathered for speeches. Then there was the a countdown, followed by a brief, quiet pause at 11 a.m.
Governor Carcieri, the state's entire congressional delegation and two former bridge workers put their hands together to push a ceremonial plunger.
And Rhode Islanders watched -- in person, on TV and on the Web -- as the landmark span fell with a poof, splash and bang, within a few short seconds.
It all went so quickly. A line of orange sparks flared. The structure started to sink. Plumes of gray smoke filled the air as white waves rose from the clear blue of the water's surface.
Then, depending on where you were, came the boom, as the sound of the explosion traveled across the water to land, heard as far away as Matunuck.
The event -- and that is what it was -- came after long planning, a week's postponement due to weather, and a last-minute delay to make sure the water was clear of seals.
"It went exactly as planned. It couldn't have gone any better," said Frank Corrao, deputy chief engineer for construction management at the state Department of Transportation.
The controlled detonation of 350 explosive charges put an end to the bridge, which was retired in 1992 when the adjacent Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge opened as the new way to connect North Kingstown and the island community of Jamestown.
Those gathered to watch the show today included many families whose children were on school vacation this week. They cheered as the bridge fell, snapped their cameras, and smiled.
But, earlier, Governor Carcieri, watching from the Plum Beach area in North Kingstown, said the destruction of the bridge was "bittersweet.
"Unlike most, I actually liked it," Carcieri said of the bridge, infamous for its narrow lanes and open metal grates at the top center of the span. "It was a little thrill going over it."
-- More to come on projo.com and in tomorrow's Journal
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
