Md. Commuter Wins Right to Blow Up Wilson Bridge

August 23, 2006 - 5:12pm

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Maryland commuter who crushed his hip in a crash on the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge has won the right to detonate the 45-year-old span.

Dan Ruefly, of Accokeek, Md., was selected Wednesday as the winner of a contest to find the person who suffered the most frustration at the hands of the drawbridge, which carries Interstate 95 across the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.

An essay about Ruefly was chosen from 312 entries by five television and radio traffic reporters. Ruefly's prize is the ultimate payback: triggering the detonation charges that will knock down nearly a half-mile stretch of elevated steel girders that supported the old bridge.

Ruefly, who was nominated by his daughter, has been a five-day-a-week commuter for more than 28 years. He faces a two-hour drive in the morning and another 90-minute drive at the end of the day.

His toughest commute came in September 1999 when he switched lanes and slammed into a stopped tractor-trailer straddling the right lane and the bridge's four-foot-wide shoulder.

The contest was sponsored by the state and federal agencies working to build a new Wilson Bridge. They have scheduled the detonation for 11:59 p.m. Monday.

The old six-lane bridge was taken out of service last month when work was completed on a new span. Removing the old bridge will clear the path of construction of the second half of the new bridge.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Maryland commuter who crushed his hip in a crash on the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge has won the right to detonate the 45-year-old span.

Ruefly, who was nominated by his daughter, has been a five-day-a-week commuter for more than 28 years. He faces a two-hour drive in the morning and another 90-minute drive at the end of the day.

His toughest commute came in September 1999 when he switched lanes and slammed into a stopped tractor-trailer straddling the right lane and the bridge's four-foot-wide shoulder.

The contest was sponsored by the state and federal agencies working to build a new Wilson Bridge. They have scheduled the detonation for 11:59 p.m. Monday.

The old six-lane bridge was taken out of service last month when work was completed on a new span. Removing the old bridge will clear the path of construction of the second half of the new bridge.

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