stride - Progress or advancement: A significant step forward in development or improvement; or a long step or pace: A way of walking with long, decisive steps.

The Supreme Court's decision was a signfication stride in the movement towards desegretation.
blast - To explode or destroy something or someone with explosives, or to break through or hit something with a similar, very strong force

While building the tunnel through the mountain, the construction crew blasted its way day by day until it was finished.