You go to all the trouble to put up all the roadblocks and clear out the surrounding buildings, you call the guys with the robots and the wire cutters, and then this happens:
Just like that!
Authorities had built a "sand barrier" around the bomb in an effort to prevent major damage from a potential explosion — and man, it's good they did:
Area commander, Supt Nathan Clark, said the explosion "was always a possibility". However, he said the mitigation, including the sand barrier, put in place "appears to have worked".
He said: "If you imagine what that explosion would have looked like without that [mitigation] it really would have been a catastrophe, a 250kg bomb. ...
The force said agencies had "assessed the damage caused by the explosion with a number of car windows broken, the top of the scaffolding on the bridge affected and some damage to the flood wall".
