Champlain Bridge demolished

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The Champlain Bridge comes apart as it falls into Lake Champlain Monday morning. Explosive charges took down the 80-year-old span so a new bridge can be built. (Staff Photo/Lohr McKinstry)

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December 28, 2009

By LOHR McKINSTRY The Press Republican Mon Dec 28, 2009, 03:10 PM EST

CROWN POINT — Sirens roared just before a series of simultaneous explosions blew the historic Champlain Bridge down into the icy lake this morning.

With a series of popping noises followed by one loud concussion, the 2,184-foot-long bridge broke apart and fell into the water within seconds.

A huge cloud of smoke and dust obscured the wreckage, although the deck could be seen crumbling and railings ripping off the sides as it fell.

The 10:05 a.m. blast shook many nearby homes and was felt miles away.

DETONATED BY GOVERNOR

The control buttons that set off the explosive charges on the bridge were pressed by Vermont Gov. James Douglas.

Timothy Gilchrist, New York Gov. David Paterson’s senior adviser for infrastructure and transportation, was with Douglas on the Vermont side of the bridge.

“He (Douglas) held down the buttons, one to charge it, then 10 seconds later, the one to start the detonation. It went as expected. Everything fell.”

The 80-year-old bridge was closed Oct. 16 after an inspection found deep cracks and erosion to its concrete pillars. Engineers said it was too dangerous to repair, so a new bridge will be built where it stood.

REMOVING DEBRIS

Gilchrist said construction crews were standing by to start removing the debris from the lake.

“They’re fishing it out. They’re going to open the navigation zone.”

DOT has contracted with Sessler Wrecking of Waterloo to pull the pieces out of Lake Champlain and set them on barges for removal.

The U.S. Coast Guard is requiring all debris to be cleared from the navigational channel by April 15.

NEXT UP: FERRY

Clearing the debris quickly is also necessary so the new Crown Point Ferry can start running — now said to be by the end of January.

“The next big step is the ferry that restores a normal flow of traffic,” Gilchrist said.

The Crown Point Ferry is expected to be operated by Lake Champlain Transportation Co., which runs other ferries on the lake. It will be free and operate 24 hours a day.

As a precursor to the new ferry, the Essex-Charlotte, Vt. Ferry operated by Lake Champlain Transportation went to a 24-hour schedule Monday.

VIEW HINDERED

New York State Department of Transportation Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee was at the media viewing area on the New York side of the bridge when it fell.

A snowstorm obscured clear views of the bridge even from 1,000 feet away.

“This is one of the reasons we wanted to get it done, because of the weather,” Gee said. “Ice and snow are coming.”

The public viewing areas at the Port Henry Public Boat Launch Site and the Bulwagga Bay Town Campground Beach had zero visibility as the 10 a.m. demolition time approached.

Moriah Town Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava had planned to watch the detonation from Port Henry but came to the media area because he couldn’t see anything from the public sites.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said. “I wanted to be able to see it.”

PIECE OF HISTORY LOST

Scozzafava said he was saddened by the destruction of a historic span like the Champlain Bridge. Built in 1929, it was opened by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was then governor of New York.

Crown Point Supervisor-elect Bethany Kosmider said she’s working at getting the historic plaque and some of the lights and other fittings that were removed before the demolition so they can be put on display in a local museum.

ICE UNSAFE

DOT Regional Engineer John Grady, who watched the demolition with Gee, said the bridge came down according to his expectations.

“We’re satisfied. It was sufficient.”

Now that the bridge is down, Grady said, warnings have been issued to ice anglers that fishing near the bridge won’t be safe because of the instability of the ice.

WENT FAST

More than 100 members of the media watched the detonation from an area set up at the Crown Point State Historic Site near the bridge.

Scozzafava said he couldn’t believe how fast the bridge crumbled.

“It was quick. I didn’t expect that.”

Advanced Explosives Demolition of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, attached 500 plastic explosive charges to bring down the bridge. The firm used about 800 pounds of radio-controlled explosives.

Although Advanced Explosives got $188,000 to implode the bridge, Gee said, total demolition cost will be closer to $1 million.

NEW BRIDGE

The cost of a new bridge is about $70 million, according to DOT. The Champlain Bridge Public Advisory Committee has recommended a modified network-tied arch bridge as a replacement, which must be approved by New York DOT, Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

Most of the replacement cost — about 80 percent — will be picked up by the federal government, with the states paying for 10 percent each.

The network-tied arch bridge bridge would somewhat resemble the continuous-truss metal bridge that was destroyed Monday.

Gilchrist said bridge replacement is on a fast-track schedule.

“We’ll get contact documents out in the spring, then we’ll start construction. We’re trying to find innovative ways to get it done quickly.”

Best estimates so far are a bridge that would open in summer 2011, but Gilchrist said they’re talking with federal officials about using innovative technology to accomplish it sooner.

“It was a grand old bridge,” he said of the span that fell today. “A lot of people had ties to it. But demolition was a step forward so we can start moving toward normalcy.”