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COUNTY BRIDGES FALLING DOWN?
Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News
11-30-09 - 8:30 a.m. - A dozen Columbia County bridges have been classified as significantly deficient by New York State Department of Transportation standards, according to a report discovered by ccSCOOP.
The twelve bridges carry a rating of between 3 and 3.9 by the state—well below the 5 rating threshold set by the state as meeting standards. A rating of 7 is the gold standard assigned to new bridges. For comparison’s sake, the recently closed and highly publicized Lake Champlain Bridge in Essex County carried a rating in the 3s.
The bridges in Columbia County are located in Claverack, Ancram, Chatham, Hudson, Copake, and Greenport. Below is a listing of the bridges and their ratings.
- Hall Hill Road in Ancram over the Roe Jan Kill—rated 3.2
- State Route 295 in Chatham at the intersection with Interstate 90—rated 3.8
- Albany Turnpike in Chatham over the railroad—rated 3.4
- County Route 9 in East Chatham over Indian Creek—rated 3.4
- White Mills Road in Chatham over the railroad—rated 3.6
- Millbrook Road in Claverack over Loomis Creek—rated 3.7
- Stone Mill Road in Claverack over the Taghkanic Creek—rated 3.9
- County Route 7A in Copake over the Roe Jan Kill—rated 3.4
- Empire Road in Copake a over the Roe Jan Kill—rated 3.9
- Fingar Road in Greenport over the Mud Creek—rated 3.9
- The Ferry Street Bridge in Hudson over the railroad—rated 3.5
- Schoolhouse Road in Stuyvesant over the railroad—rated 3.6
The vast majority of the bridges were classified by the state as “structurally deficient,” meaning they require significant maintenance and repair to remain in service. The classification indicates that they will require eventual rehabilitation or replacement to address deficiencies.
Two of the bridges—one on Stone Mill Road and the other on Empire Road—were found to be “functionally obsolete” by the state, meaning the bridges are unable to meet current standards for managing the volume of traffic they carry. It does not mean that the structure of the bridges is inadequate.
Based on a 2008 report, about 12 percent of the bridges in the state are classified as structurally deficient and about 25 percent are classified as functionally obsolete. Dozens more of the county’s bridges had ratings in the 4s, also below the state safety threshold. State Department of Transportation officials didn’t return calls for comment. |
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The Ferry Street Bridge in Hudson, which was rated 3.5 |
Jesse DeGroodt, supervisor of the Town of Chatham where four of the bridges are located, told ccSCOOP that the issue is nothing new for the town and or county. He said towns and counties can’t afford the cost of maintaining the aging infrastructure. “We are really at the mercy of the state. There’s just no way the towns can step up and do the repairs,” DeGroodt said.
“At one point we had looked at doing our own bridge on White Mills Road, and when we got all done, it would have cost us more than a $1 million. We have an (annual town) budget of $3 million. We just couldn’t do it without cutting everything else,” said DeGroodt.
The White Mills Bridge is being repaired thanks to state and federal funding, but it won’t be ready until “sometime in 2010.” The cost to the town for the work will be $125,000. The town has sought federal stimulus funds for the bridge repairs and replacement, including $3.4 million for the Albany Turnpike span, but has not received word on those applications.
In Hudson, First Ward Supervisor John Musall and Mayor Rick Scalera have likewise sought federal funds for the Ferry Street Bridge which crosses the railroad tracks to Hudson’s waterfront, after finding that CSX was unwilling to replace the span. Last year, a city inspection of the bridge with an engineer from CSX found several wooden planks to be rotted and steel beams under the bridge to be severely rusted. The rotted wood has since been replaced, but because CSX determined that the rusted beams were not load bearing, they were not placed.
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