Lake Champlain Bridge closed

[Craig]

Sounds like some folks are bitter that there was a state of emergency declared subverting the usual input from special interest groups.

Hummm, I wonder if there’s more to this story…
They do/did seem to move pretty fast on this thing, with NY in the lead…

I smell $$$

 

[smitty77]

I smell $$$

It's certainly possible. Much cheaper to remove and replace this way. If it were not structurally unsound (and only structurally deficient) I assume it would need to be replaced without disrupting use. This would entail acquiring land on both sides, constructing a new bridge alongside the old, and re-aligning the roadway after the new bridge opens. And you can be rest assured the removal of the old structure would need to be completed methodically piece by piece instead of dumped into the lake in one shot.

Yeah, this way is a LOT cheaper.

 

[MichaelJ]

Not to mention that what the locals want, nay, need, is the bridge reopened, and probably wanted to make sure that no non-local special interest organizations decided to tie up the project in court.

Not to sound paranoid or critical or anything.

 

[Craig]

Today, New York State Governor David A. Paterson and Vermont Governor Jim Douglas announced that the Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge concept was the preferred choice as the replacement for the Lake Champlain Bridge and that design work would begin immediately. More information is available on the Lake Champlain Bridge Project Alternatives page

The NY DOT has some nice aerial photo’s depicting the current conditions.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I didn't realize they were putting in a temporary dock near the bridge to handle traffic until the new bridge is built.

And Craig - NY is taking the lead because it's their bridge.

 

[Craig]

Perhaps I assumed there was joint ownership based upon the creation of the “Lake Champlain Bridge Commission”

This document (pg 5) suggests funding was by the states at 60% NY & 40% Vermont.

I also thought I read

 

[RoySwkr]

They put iron in the concrete?

This article has several new items:
http://poststar.com/news/local/article_fc153f68-6159-11df-bb71-001cc4c002e0.html

Note that the General Sullivan Bridge which was built 5 years later to a supposedly superior design was shut down a couple decades earlier! Of course it spanned salt water and had a serious rust problem, and it still stands because it's too expensive to remove with all the lead paint. The adjacent new bridge will soon be widened again to reduce delays to hikers.

 

[Craig]

Sounds like some folks are bitter that there was a state of emergency declared subverting the usual input from special interest groups.

Hummm, I wonder if there’s more to this story…
They do/did seem to move pretty fast on this thing, with NY in the lead…

I smell $$$

<sniffing>

Bridge preservationists argue state officials had an incentive to let the bridge deteriorate to a state of disrepair. When a bridge’s federal sufficiency rating falls below 50 out of 100 points, according to Nathan Holth, the founder of historicbridges.org, the federal government will step in and supply 80 percent of the funds.
If it will cost $1 million dollars to repair a bridge versus $2 million to replace it, Holth said, states may choose to let the bridge decay until the federal government steps in.
"From their perspective, it’s cheaper; but from a taxpayer’s perspective, that money still has to come from somewhere," he said.
Because of the emergency closure and the bridge’s already poor condition, it qualified for a replacement. New York and Vermont are splitting the remaining 20 percent of the project’s cost.

Tomorrow: Read how the cost of building a new bridge across Lake Champlain compares with other alternatives.

</sniffing>

I found this theory interesting.

Iron tailings from local mines were added to the concrete mix, perhaps to make it heavier.

Luke Gordon, who works with a Michigan-based group, historicbridges.org, on engineering and construction issues, studied the piers to discover why they deteriorated.

He believes the iron rusted, creating expansion inside the concrete, and cracking.

"Once the cracking starts, there’s no way to really fix it," he said. "It’s really pretty much a lost cause."

Years ago, down south, they routinely use foundry dust in concrete to reinforce it.

 

[The Hikers]

Whatever the reasons, the results are added miles for us when we head out for the High Peaks next week.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Whatever the reasons, the results are added miles for us when we head out for the High Peaks next week.

It shouldn't - there's a free ferry running every few minutes near the old bridge. Take a few minutes longer than simply driving over the old bridge, but it's an interesting diversion.

I used it in April on a trip from NE to Rochester.

 

[RoySwkr]

"A limited number of copies of the popular history book, "Spanning the Decades: The Lake Champlain Bridge Story" are available to the public at no charge. This 65-page booklet, richly illustrated with photos, paintings, and memorabilia, tells the story of the 1929 Lake Champlain Bridge. It was jointly funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the New York State Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation as part of a larger program of commemoration to mitigate the loss of the historic bridge. This mitigation was required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

The booklet is available at four locations as outlined below:

* Chimney Point State Historic Site, 8149 VT Route 17W, Addison, VT
* Crown Point State Historic Site, Operations Building, 21 Grandview Drive, Crown Point, NY
* Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, 4472 Basin Harbor Road, Vergennes, VT
* Lake Champlain Visitors Center, 814 Bridge Road, Crown Point, NY

If you are unable to get a copy of the booklet, it can be found in electronic (PDF) format on the commemoration website,
www.dot.ny.gov/LCBCommemoration <http://www.dot.ny.gov/LCBCommemoration>.
This website also has videos of 22 oral history interviews, a documentary film, six short topical films, and a Resource Guide summarizing the location and content of historic source material for historic researchers."

Also on the site are the original bridge plans in case you want to build a copy in your back yard - just remember to put steel in the piers this time