[font=Verdana]The demolition of the original [/font][font=Verdana]Carquinez[/font][font=Verdana] [/font][font=Verdana]Bridge[/font][font=Verdana] became a reality Monday as the first major section began to be lowered onto barges before being sold for scrap. [/font]

[font=Verdana]By dusk, a 400-foot-long steel section hung about halfway to the water, as if crews were paying the 1927 bridge one final tribute, flying its deck at half-staff. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Getting an early start after weeks of weather delays, Caltrans began lowering the first steel section, on the Crockett side of the span, around [/font][font=Verdana]7:30 a.m.[/font][font=Verdana] Monday. [/font]

[font=Verdana]By nightfall, crews had lowered the 1.4 million-pound section about 70 feet, with about 60 feet more to go today, said Peter Strykers, Caltrans senior bridge engineer. Workers planned to resume work at daybreak today; Strykers told a small group of media watching the slow process aboard the TS Golden Bear, docked at [/font][font=Verdana]California[/font][font=Verdana] [/font][font=Verdana]Maritime[/font][font=Verdana] [/font][font=Verdana]Academy[/font][font=Verdana][/font]

[font=Verdana]Crews used powerful strand jacks and 19 separate strands to lower the gutted section, slowly dropping it [/font]

[font=Verdana]16 inches at a time, Strykers said. After each small increment, the strand jacks then were recycled and workers leveled the strands to maintain the balance, Strykers said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]In three to four weeks, Caltrans will lower the next section, the corresponding segment on the [/font][font=Verdana]Vallejo[/font][font=Verdana] side, onto the same pair of barges, Strykers said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The demolition process began in November after eastbound traffic had briefly returned to the old span. The entire $18 million procedure is expected to take until September 2007, according to Caltrans. [/font]