Archive: News

Over the past few years the Salmon Creek Bridge on Ridge Road (NY State Route 34B) -- that spans the gorge behind Lansing Middle School -- has been closed for repairs from time to time.  The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) now plans to remove the 87 year old bridge entirely and replace it with a new design.  NYSDOT officials gave a presentation Wednesday to a standing room only crowd at the Lansing Town Hall to explain why, how, and when that will happen.

"Now is the time to do it," says NYSDOT spokesman Gene Cilento.  "The bridge is relatively narrow.  The steel connections  have a tendency to work loose over the years.  There's a massive steel arch with a lot of vertical columns framed into it.  Over the years vibration and poundings have caused some of the welds to crack.  The bridge is safe, but it needs more and more maintenance."

The new bridge will replace the current 11 foot east and westbound lanes and narrow 3.7 foot shoulders with standard 12 foot lanes and 8 foot shoulders, two feet wider than standard shoulders.  The current arch-designed bridge will be replaced with by a design that uses angled girders to distribute the weight load from the deck that will be rated for the maximum legal load for trucks.  Cilento says the new design will not have as many welds and is expected to last at least 75 years.  The existing bridge was built in 1930 - the structural deck has exceeded its intended service life of 40 years by a decade.

"It's not going to be the same kind of arch," he explains.  "It will be a total replacement.  Because of all those welded arch connections it doesn't make sense to replace it and have all the same problem over and over again.  This rigid frame is certainly a different design.  It's almost like straight girders across and angled support columns coming up from the ravine below.  The existing bridge has to be out of the way for the new bridge to go in."

The steep gorge will present challenges for workers.  The bridge is about 120 feet above Salmon Creek, so access while building the span will be difficult because the sides of the gorge are quite steep.  Workers may have to build platforms to reach the location of the piers for the angle supports that help resist weight loads transmitted onto them. 

"It's a massive bridge to take down," Cilento says.  "We haven't figured out if it's going to be taken down piece by piece like a Lego set, or if we're going to drop something into the creek with dynamite.  Once it's down we can start working on the new bridge."

The annual average traffic on the bridge is 7,300 vehicles per day.  That means a lot of vehicles will be diverted for a long time -- Spring, Summer and Fall of 2019.  Local automobile traffic will likely use Myers Road or route through Ludlowville, which crosses the creek at a lower elevation near the entrance to Salt Point.  But the official detour, especially for trucks will be to go up and around along Route 34 and Route 90.  Heavy trucks will be prohibited on local roads using signage.  Emergency vehicles will be permitted to use the local roads.

At this time NYSDOT plans to close the bridge and begin demolition around the first day of Spring in 2019, weather permitting.  It will take some time to remove the old bridge before construction can begin on the new one.   

"It has to be an aggressive schedule," says Cilento.  "But we're confident that the new bridge can be open to traffic in that 2019 season.  Once the abutment work goes in the steel goes up pretty quickly.  Because traffic is not going to be on it you can pour the deck and let it cure the full 28 days and it should last around 75 years.  The following year there'll be incidental work -- some landscaping work, some punch list work, some approach paving to the road meets correctly with the grades of the bridge."


Plans for the new bridge are not firm at this stage.  NYSDOT officials presented three alternatives being considered that range in cost between $11.8 million (the preferred alternative) and $15.7 million.  They also noted that the preferred alternative will not require the acquisition of nearby homes, while the more expensive alternatives would have a larger impact on surrounding properties, including the taking of some occupied homes.

It will be about two years before local traffic is diverted, and Cilento says the intention is to close the bridge for as little time as possible.

"Most of the work will be completed in one season," says Cilento.  "Closing the bridge makes it easier to accomplish that, and in any case traffic across the bridge has to be diverted because the bridge will be completely replaced."
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