Скачать или смотреть Watch: Blasts bring down 2 Ameren towers in St. Louis area

Residents in the southern St. Louis area on both sides of the Mississippi River heard, and possibly felt, a series of booms Wednesday. Ameren said it was the sound of more reliable power on the way.

Ameren brought down two old transmission towers, one on each side of the river. The structures were built in the 1950s and already have been replaced by new towers as part of the Metro South Reliability Project.

“The Metro South project will increase customer benefits by increasing reliability. It's also going to increase the resiliency in the grid and pull from cleaner and greener energy sources to the local area,” explained Suzanne Pohlman, project manager for Ameren Transmission.

With a 3, 2, 1 countdown, she got to pull the trigger Wednesday, setting off the implosions that brought down the towers.

Video provided by Ameren shows the blasts detonated on one side at the base of the towers, causing the 300-foot-plus structures to tip over and crash into the ground.

The Metro South Reliability Project is part of Ameren’s Smart Energy Plan, which was funded by Missouri Senate Bill 564 after it passed in 2018. Pohlman said the project has improved the power grid for the area.

“The Metro South Reliability Project is going to help keep the lights on for 100,000+ Ameren Missouri customers,” she added.