Collapsed M20 bridge has been demolished
Published: 10:00, 03 September 2016
Updated: 16:00, 15 October 2019
Contractors are busy removing 400 tonnes of rubble from the damaged M20 footbridge which was fully demolished yesterday.
Highways England says several tipper trucks are being used to clear away the concrete and reinforced steel remains. It hopes most of the debris can be recycled.
Meanwhile the motorway remains closed between Junctions 2 (Wrotham) and 4 (Leybourne).
The agency says work is proceeding well and it is expecting to re-open the motorway as planned at 6am on Monday.
Specialist engineers moved onto the motorway early yesterday morning and used heavy equipment to crunch away at the section standing over one side of the carriageway.
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Our pictures show the bridge stump has already been demolished by 8am on Saturday morning.
C&D London, the firm handling the demolition said it was eight hours ahead of schedule and the last bit of the bridge was brought down around 1pm yesterday.
A network of diversions have been put in place.
Several motorists have questioned whether the M20 could re-open sooner.
But a Highways England spokesman told kentonline there is still complex work to be done to remove all traces of the bridge and deal with the rubble.
The spokesman added: "We are making good progress and everything is going to plan. The remaining part of the bridge has now been removed and it has been chopped into pieces.
"The work has moved on to get rid of the tonnes of rubble, so we remain focused on re-opening the M20 by 6am on Monday."
Drivers on the M25 were stopped on Friday night just before junction 5 so Highways England could safely start the closures and make sure no cars were on the carriageways affected.
VIDEO: Watch the moment the bridge was demolished...
On Saturday motorists found problems in other parts of Kent - the roundabout linking the M20 and M2 at Blue Bell Hill saw queuing traffic earlier this morning.
Kent County Council reported delays on the M20 towards London between junction 5 (Aylesford) and junction 4 (Leybourne) which is where drivers need to come off.
It advised using the A249 at junction 7, the A229 (junction 6) and the A228 (junction 4) to reach the M2.
At Wrotham Heath on the A20 London Road motorists were warned to expect delays between the A228 Ashton Way and M26 J2a.
The A20 London Road in Ditton suffered with slow moving traffic in both directions between the M20 junction 4 and junction 5.
There was also congestion on the M25, clockwise, between junctions 4-5.
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KentOnline reporter