Back in the early 1960s, when the Silas N. Pearman Bridge still was under construction, Sparky Witte and his friends spent their weekend nights sneaking down to the bridge and climbing up its steel beams. Although not exactly safe or legal, the late-night runs up the cold steel structure forged memories between the friends and a bond between Witte and the bridge.

The teenage memories are among many that Witte, now 56, has gathered over the years about the two old Cooper River bridges. He also recalls his great-grandfather and former Charleston Mayor Tristam T. Hyde talking about the construction of the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, and he remembers hearing his mom talk about her first ride across the Grace Bridge during the opening day parade. She was 8 and terrified.

View strandjack illustration

He remembers when he turned 16 in 1966 and took his first trip across the Grace. And he remembers back in August, when he realized the old bridges where coming down faster than he expected. He took a drive downtown to watch the demolition and met Joe Duffy, the project's manager. The meeting led to a friendship that has given Witte more access to the project than most other residents.

Since that day, he's been there, camera in hand. His photos not only educate residents on the demolition process but also keep the workers, many of whom hail from the Northeast, in touch with their families.

"I wear the steel-toed shoes, I wear the hard hat and the safety vest," Witte said. "I'm not trying to be undercover or anything. I'm carrying on the tradition of my family. I'm carrying on the torch."

In two days, he plans to be with the workers again as they attempt another project first: the hydraulic lowering from above the Cooper River shipping channel of a 380-foot-long span of the Pearman bridge he used to climb.

"I'll be right down there with them on a barge," said

Witte, who has snapped about 7,000 bridge demolition photos. Frank Starmer, a professor with the Medical University of South Carolina and another resident with access to the project, works with him to keep the photos accessible at www.oldcooperriverbridge .org.

Project engineers and the Coast Guard will meet today to decide whether conditions look favorable to lower the span. If the forecast is free of wind, rain and lightning, demolition crews will cut the 525-ton section free Wednesday, severing it from the rest of the bridge for the first time in nearly 40 years. The steel truss, until it is lowered, will be held in place by hydraulic jacks and cables.

"Most people are sad about what's going on," Witte said. "It's the end of an era."

Chris Wakeman, a project foreman and Ladson resident, also recognizes the historical significance of his job. He returned to the area in 2003 to help build the newest of the Cooper River bridges, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. His three children often pepper him with questions about his work, especially when they see bridge workers on TV or in the paper.

"It seemed appropriate to take the old ones down since I helped put the new one up," Wakeman said.

He and his crew spent most of last week welding together and strengthening the lift and strandjack beams that will help lower the span. During the weekend, the beams were installed and the cables hung in preparation for Wednesday's operation. At 8 a.m., the shipping channel will close and the job will begin.

If all goes as planned, the span should be on a barge within five to seven hours and headed upstream to the former Navy base in North Charleston by midafternoon.

The job is expected to be completed well within the allotted 24-hour channel closure permitted by the $59.6 million contract.

The time limit was agreed upon before the start of the job in August, after transportation officials consulted with the maritime business community on the potential financial effects of an extended harbor closure.

The channel, which serves the fourth-largest container port in the country, sees more than $100 million worth of goods travel through it, and beneath the old bridge spans, each day. That's why, after two attempts by the contractor to explosively demolish spans in nearby Town Creek and recover the debris in 24 hours turned out badly, the contractor changed its methods.

Mammoet, a Netherlands-based company known for heavy lifting, was subcontracted to complete this portion of the demolition job, scrapping the contractor's original plan to explosively demolish the spans, as had been done with previously removed bridge sections.

And while lowering the old Cooper River bridge spans likely won't bring the company as much international attention as one of its previous jobs - the company raised the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk from the Barents Sea - the task will draw Witte and Wakeman to the waterfront. Wakeman plans to watch from a barge. Odds are, Witte and his camera will be nearby.

The job

Workers will attach two 900-ton capacity strandjacks to each end of the Pearman bridge's suspended span. Next, heavy lift beams will be placed under each end of the span and attached to the cable strands. When the lift beams are in place to support the weight of the span, the span will be cut away from the rest of the bridge and lowered slowly to a barge below using the strandjacks.

How a strandjack handles the weight

The process is similar to when a person lowers a rope hand-over-hand.At the start of the lowering process, both grippers are locked. The top gripper is unlocked and the hydraulic ram is raised. Next, the top gripper locks while the lower gripper releases and the hydraulic ram goes back down. This process lowers the bridge span 13.5 inches per cycle and about 30 feet per hour.

Each jack uses a bundle of 30 cable strands, which are fed individually through top and bottom grippers that open or close to grip the cable bundle.

Reach Jessica VanEgeren at jvanegeren@postandcourier.com or 937-5562.