Ohio River bridge taken down with explosives

US authorities have overseen the spectacular demolition of an Ohio River bridge with a series of planned explosions, which was caught on camera by an onlooker.

The 83-year-old Fort Steuben Bridge in Steubenville, Ohio, was destroyed without incident at 7.15am Tuesday, WTOV9 reports.

Footage of the explosion reveals charges rapidly detonating along the frame of the bridge before the whole thing bursts into flames causing the structure to collapse on itself.

The bridge came down in a matter of seconds thanks to 490 shaped charges and 70kgs of explosives strategically mounted in 136 locations all over the bridge.

"Basically what we're doing is just cutting the steel. We're using almost like a remote torch but we'll be 500 feet away when we detonate it," said Doug Loizeaux of Controlled Demolition Inc.

Some sections of the bridge were removed before the explosion while water traffic was closed for 24 hours.

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