[FONT=Verdana]The first of 10 underwater blasts to demolish piers that supported part of the former Galveston Causeway is scheduled for 8 a.m. Sunday.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Traffic on the remaining half of the old causeway and the completed half of a new one being built alongside it will be halted for about 30 minutes, said Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Norm Wigington.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]After the demolition, Wigington said, the concrete rubble will be removed from the floor of the bay and reused.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Motorists and boaters are asked to avoid the area during the demolition, which Wigington said will not be visible above the water.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Observers will be stationed around the site to alert construction crews if sea turtles or other marine life wanders into the blast zone, he said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The demolition comes near the midpoint of the four-year, $136 million project to replace the causeway with a new one with increased capacity[/FONT]