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LOUISVILLE NEWS: Fireworks

Crews Prep Bridge For Thunder

Annual Fireworks Display This Weekend

POSTED: 11:06 am EDT April 9, 2008
UPDATED: 3:17 pm EDT May 2, 2008

Thunder Over Louisville 2008 is fast approaching, and crews have started to wire up the local landmark at the center of the show.

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The Second Street Bridge is closed until 4 p.m. Wednesday, and after Thursday morning's commute, it will be closed through the weekend.

It's no small task getting ready for Thunder, which has become known as the largest fireworks display in the country. Zambelli Fireworks, the company that masterminds the display every year, has it all down to a science.

Computers do the heavy lifting technically, but physically, it takes a fleet of trucks and trailers to get all of the racks, firing tubes and other hardware needed to Louisville from New Castle, Penn.

The technicians got started on Saturday, and they've been working on the barges since then.

"Everything we do, right from the beginning, everything that comes out of the truck gets covered immediately with plastic, and if we can, we like to load it before we have to cover it, because, we keep it covered at all times, even before and after it's loaded," said Robert Mays of Zambelli Fireworks. "When a shell's in there, we have foil over that to keep water out and also sparks, to keep from preignition, so the finale goes when the finale is supposed to go, y'know?"

Mays said the difficult work -- the design, the synchronization, the packing of the shells -- is done. It's just a matter of making sure everything's in its proper place and wired correctly. Computers handle the rest.

The Second Street Bridge will open back up for traffic again at 4 p.m. Wednesday, but will be closed through the weekend starting Thursday at 9 a.m.

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