I thought the bridge was a very different situation. The pro-demolish side having no intention of repurposing anything from the demolition, demolition and reconstruction also represented a massively more complex and time consuming project what with it being a huge, canyon-spanning bridge and closing out the only road to the entirety of the world sending them people and resources.

They also wanted to do this before the establishment their own resources on top of the aforementioned closing down of their own trade route.