Champlain Bridge to go down

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December 18, 2009

By LOHR McKINSTRY The Press Republican Fri Dec 18, 2009, 04:41 PM EST

CROWN POINT — Assuming all necessary permits have been received, the Champlain Bridge will go down in history Wednesday morning.

The explosives demolition of the 2,184-foot-long bridge connecting Crown Point and Addison, Vt., is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Law-enforcement personnel ranging from State Police to state forest rangers, State Environmental Conservation Police and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department will be on hand to provide security when the 80-year-old landmark is blown into Lake Champlain.

Bridge Road (Route 185) leading to the bridge will be closed three hours before the detonation.

Advanced Explosives Demolition of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, has been hired to blow up the Champlain Bridge.

The controlled detonation is expected to drop the bridge segments into the lake, where a crane will pick them up and deposit them on barges that have been brought in for removal.

The crane is being stored at the Village Pier in Port Henry, which is also one of the tentative public viewing areas for the bridge demolition. The other is the beach at the Bulwagga Bay Town Campground off Route 9N/22 in Port Henry.

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Carol Breen said Friday the detonation is dependent on completion of permitting for the event.

“At this time the date is tentative, dependent upon receipt of all required permits. There will be a viewing area for media only at the (Crown Point State) Historic Site, but we’re still working out details of public viewing areas.”

Advanced Explosives took down what the company calls the largest building ever successfully imploded — the Sears Merchandise Warehouse in Philadelphia.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation is discouraging people on the Vermont side of the bridge from attending, Outreach Coordinator John Zicconi said.

“It is expected to be very cold, and there will be no facilities. And there is no parking except along local streets. There is no ceremony of any kind.”

Temperatures next week are expected to be in the teens during the day.

“There will be no places to warm up or go the bathroom,” Zicconi said.

The bridge was closed Oct. 16 and later deemed irreparable after underwater inspections showed severe cracks and erosion of its concrete pillars.

Construction of a new bridge is expected to start in spring 2010, with completion in summer 2011. A free, 24-hour ferry is being set up next to the old bridge and is scheduled to begin running by the beginning of January.

The independent Ticonderoga Ferry was closed Thursday after an ice floe blocked its path. Although the ice was cleared from the channel between Ticonderoga and Shoreham, Vt., the ferry was still unable to operate Friday.

Ferry operators said they will reopen as soon as weather conditions permit. Icing of the cable that drives the ferry was blamed for Friday’s closure.

The Ticonderoga Ferry is not winterized, and a bubbler system put in by Dock Doctor of Vermont was being used to keep the channel open in freezing temperatures.

Officials were hoping the Ticonderoga Ferry could operate until the new Crown Point Ferry started.

Moriah Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava went to the Ticonderoga Ferry landing Friday.

“It’s not good. They’re working on it. But I don’t know if they’ll be able to reopen.”

He said the Crown Point Ferry workers are about to kick into high gear because of the situation.

“The construction crews are starting 24-hour shifts (Saturday).”

The other ways around the bridge are the Essex-Charlotte, Vt., Ferry and driving a detour on Route 4 through Whitehall.

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at:

lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com