LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The old bridge over the A9 autoroute at the Vennes junction was destroyed this week in less than 36 hours, all while the 7,300 users per  hour continued to drive on the road.

Watch a time lapse video of the demolition.

The demolition used a technique called “croquage” in French, where machines are used to break and crumble the concrete into small pieces that can be hauled away.

A temporary bridge was built over the autoroute in recent months to replace the old one, which was suffering structural damage.

Engineers with the Swiss Federal Highway Office determined that the permanent bridge needed to be replaced, and work will now begin on it.

The new bridge will have diagonally crossing prefabricated pillars supporting the flat table of the road, which will allow more space on the road below. The A9 will remain open, as will the temporary bridge, while construction on the new bridge takes place during 2014.