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The state Department
of Transportation is starting work today on a series of repairs to
the Lake Champlain Bridge.
During a bridge
inspection completed last month, DOT says several areas of steel
deterioration to the bridge’s truss system were discovered.
As a result, repair
work to the bridge was ordered. That work will begin today and DOT
says motorists may encounter significant travel delays.
A temporary signal
system will be used to control one-way, alternating traffic on the
bridge, which spans Lake Champlain between Crown Point, New York and
Chimney Point, Vermont.
The weight posting on
the bridge will also be reduced to 40 tons, the legal maximum load
on a New York State bridge without a special permit. Legally-loaded
tractor trailers will be permitted to use the bridge; however,
overweight vehicles will be prohibited.
Built in 1929, the
bridge consists of 14 spans totaling 2,184 feet. It accommodates
approximately 3,400 vehicles per average day.
A project either to
rehabilitate or replace the bridge is being developed by both the
New York State DOT and the Vermont Agency of Transportation under an
agreement between the states. The current project schedule calls
for construction to begin in 2013.
-Chris Knight, 7-3-09
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