By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The best viewing spot for Cinergy Field's implosion Sunday will be from the easy chair in front of your TV, Hamilton County officials said Monday.

"View from home," Mike Sieving, Hamilton County's construction manager, said during a briefing detailing street closings and plans for a safety perimeter south of Third Street for the 8 a.m. demolition.

The need to begin closing streets as early as 2 a.m. Sunday to create the safety zone and the limited viewing available west of Cinergy on the Paul Brown Stadium plaza combine to limit public viewing areas on the Ohio side of the river, Mr. Sieving said.

Included in the street closings are the Roebling Suspension Bridge west of Cinergy and the Taylor Southgate Bridge east of it.

"This is not like Riverfest,'' Mr. Sieving said of the annual Labor Day fireworks display that draws 500,000 to the riverfront. "There will be very limited viewing areas.''

For example, he said, the plaza around Paul Brown Stadium can accommodate about 12,000 people, but only those on the edge of the plaza will have clear view of the Cinergy implosion.

Because of the street closings, city officials said those wanting to view the implosion will have to be in place early.

"If you're not where you need to be early in the morning, expect some difficulty," Steve Bailey, city traffic engineer, said.

The last roads to be closed will be Interstate 71 and Fort Washington Way, which will be shut down to all traffic about 7:30 or 7:45 a.m.

The safety perimeter will stretch south from Third Street between Elm Street and Broadway into the Ohio River.

Working with the Coast Guard, officials will stop all traffic on the river between Interstate 471 and the Brent Spence Bridge starting at 7:30 a.m.

The city plans to install metal barriers along the north side of Third Street, but those barriers might be moved back, depending on the prevailing wind that morning.

The early weather forecast for Sunday calls for rain and temperatures in the 40s, officials said.

The only weather conditions that could delay the planned 8 a.m. demolition would be a couple of feet of snow or thunderstorms, officials said.

If everything goes as planned, officials will begin reopening streets within 10 minutes of the 37-second implosion.

Engineering analysis has shown that the vibration levels for the closest structure to the blast, Great American Ball Park, will be six times less than federal blasting limits.

Third Street buildings will experience levels 20 times lower than the amount of vibration needed to crack plaster, officials said.

"We don't anticipate any collateral damage,'' said Jeff Sizemore of O'Rourke Wrecking Co., primary contractor for the stadium demolition.

Because most of the dust-creating material, such as drywall, has been removed from Cinergy Field, dust from the implosion should be minimal.

Mr. Sizemore said Cinergy "is a good structure to implode because of its makeup. It's easy to remove the material that creates dust in terms of drywall and block walls that generate a lot of dust.''

O'Rourke has contacted the building managers along Third Street about sealing air intakes Sunday morning.

Doors, windows and air intakes at Great American Ball Park will be covered to prevent any damage.

The west face of the new ballpark will be draped in a mesh netting designed to catch any debris.

Email mboyer@enquirer.com

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