A Look at the Champlain Bridge

A Look at the Champlain Bridge

In keeping with this blog's mission of serving in part as a photographic supplement to the printed Rutland Herald, I thought I'd post some of the pictures I've taken during trips this fall to the Champlain Bridge, also known as the Crown Point Bridge, that connects Addison, Vermont with Crown Point, New York. Or at least it used to. This is the bridge you've been reading about and hearing about because it is in such bad shape that it's closed for safety's sake. Before that, it was possible to walk out onto the closed lane and see the structure as never before. And, as the photos of deterioration will show, maybe never again.

See all that rust staining on the pier? It's worse close up. Ask yourself: would you buy a used car with rust like this? Would you have the undercarriage checked out to see if it would need repairs that would cost more than the price of the old clunker?

The truss members look like they could use a truss.

I leave it to you to decide whether the next picture indicates a lack of basic maintenance or not.

Walking on it, a truck would make it shake, and even an SUV would make it tremble. A key point re the closing, for any engineering types: it wasn't just that some of the concrete piers had deep cracks, it was the fact that the expansion joints, which were meant to give the bridge operational flexibility, had locked up.

An unexpected pleasure of being on the bridge was having a good view of boat wakes. Each has a personality that fits the craft making it. This guy's testosterone-fueled sportster was skipping over the waves.

Could there be a ferry at the site, at least temporarily? One local said there had been one, before the bridge. The boat landing under the bridge looks like it has the beginnings of a landing. The boat in the picture is a good example of why there won't be a pontoon bridge unless it has a way of letting waterborne traffic continue along the international waterway: a knowledgeable fisherman said this was a yacht carrying snowbirds south; in the spring, he said, they will all come back to to their Champlain summer residences in their boats.

I'll close with a view of the Champlain monument in the park across the highway from the Crown Point ruins in New York. This was, after all, the 400th anniversary of the "discovery" of the lake by Samuel de Champlain, whose statue is on the monument.

What's this? What does it have to do with Lake Champlain? Well, this was the bottom of a lake, or sea, many many moons ago. It's the Omya marble quarry in Middlebury--I'll have pictures from their open house, always a festive occasion (seriously), in another posting. Meanwhile, consider this: as part of the open house, they have a 480-foot--long trail that describes what happens to make marble over a 480-million-year period. Step forward one foot and you've gone a million years. An 80-year human lifespan takes less than the width of a human hair.

This, too, shall pass.

Comments

[Adam Preece]

That's one scary-looking bridge. When was it constructed? I hope it could still carry more vehicles before it gets fixed. It would be a shame to lose it if it's significant to the town, but safety must be prioritized!

[Wilmer Geraci]

Ooh, yeah, that bridge isn't looking good at all. It's a good thing it got closed, since it doesn't look like it'd be safe unless a lot of things are fixed or replaced. Still, you took some pretty nice photos of the place around it.

[alaxxoo9]

I thought I'd post some of the pictures I've taken during trips this fall to the Champlain Bridge, also known as the Crown Point Bridge, that connects Addison, Vermont with Crown Point, New York. http://www.goodlookingloser.com/2012/06/21/sizegenetics-routine/