Upper Bridge Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Keeseville's Historic Bridges

Cooler Heads Will Prevail!

By matt | April 8, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

APR 8, 2021 —

Cooler Heads will prevail! Today town board members from both sides of the river, both tow supervisors, Both County Highway Heads and others involved in saving our bridges talked to Art Suckewer of Wrought Iron Bridge Works. Art is the CEO of a company that manufactures advanced jet engine parts and is an expert in historical bridge restorations. Art spoke for an hour and twenty minutes not trying to “sell” his business but spoke as an enthusiast on how we can save the bridges at a lower cost, and that OUR bridges especially deserve to be saved. He also encouraged us to “think outside the box to get this done”.

The great thing that came from this meeting is now our town boards are all informed on what is possible and that our bridges can and deserve to be saved. The highway department Heads of both counties then had a chance to voice some of their concerns about logistics and NYS requirements. To some members of the town board this was very unexpected and possibly came off the wrong way. Art felt they highway heads were very responsive, listened well and open to creative solutions. Art explained that if we want our bridges restored we have to think creatively and proposed solutions to everything the Highway department heads of both counties had to say.

Immediately after the meeting I went to both town offices to reassure everyone that this pushback from the highway dept heads was expected. From my prospective, there is a lot of bad blood from years of trying to get this resolved. Cooler Heads will prevail! We need to stay focused, and keep working hard. The Highways department heads did explain their support and understanding of why they should be restored, but there are logistics they need to deal with on every level. They were just doing their jobs as the head of their department and we thank them for their time. The Highway department heads do not have a vote for themselves but will listen to whatever the County Supervisors or Legislature will tell them to do.

I sent updated emails to all town board members and a few county representatives that we are now more motivated than ever to find creative solutions towards fixing our bridges. We are gearing up for a massive push at both the Essex County Board of Supervisors and the Clinton County Legislature. These are the groups that will actually vote on supporting our bridges. We are working this week to put a plan together on what needs to happen with the “Upper Bridge” so that we can look for creative funding solutions.

I’m encouraging all town board members to forget about the past, keep focused, stay calm, collected and be respectful as we will be doing the same. But, at the same time we are persistent, determined…and quite possibly stubborn at times, and we aren’t going to give up. We aren’t going to take no for an answer. Our bridges are one of a kind, and we need Essex County and Clinton County to get on board to save history, right a wrong from ten years ago, and make history by saving our bridges for the next generation. This can be done and we need Everyone to be focused on this. More information on how YOU can help will be coming later this week. Thank you to everyone involved today for your time and efforts. If anything I realized just how much our town board members care about our bridges. Frustration can be a good thing if turned in the right direction. This is what we need to do. The frustration comes from our town board REALLY caring about these bridges. If you see them, thank them for their hard work on trying to save them.

Volunteer’s Need (Bridges are looking Fantastic)

By matt | August 25, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

AUG 25, 2020 —

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to a bunch of volunteers over the past few weeks the bridges are starting to look fantastic. Just a little bit more trimming needs to be done.

Upper Bridge (River St)

We need someone to trim around the big boulders leading up to the bridge and possibly bring a pole saw to cut just a few limbs in front of the left side green railing by the bridge.

Old State Road

Most of the trimming has been done here. We are working on a plan to safely remove the accumulated dirt and sediment in front of the bridge on the old state road by putting it into a trailer and hauling it away. There is no room to put the dirt on either side of the bridge, and it shouldn’t go in the river. We have a plan to remove it via trailer and should be done in a week or so to make it look good.

Other than this, the bridges are looking GREAT! This is the best they have looked in 10 years! A special thank you to all the volunteers who have helped so far!

If you want to volunteer just let me know by sending an email or facebook message!

www.facebook.com/keesevillehistoricbridges

keesevillehistoricbridges@gmail.com

Clinton County Update

By matt | August 14, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

AUG 14, 2020 —

Today we spent almost two hours with Clinton County Highway Supervisor Karl Wiess and Rob Timmons from the Clinton County Transportation Committee. They were tremendously helpful today, and we thank them very much for their time. Also joining us today was Clayton Barber, Sandy Senecal, and Steven Englehart.

SWING BRIDGE

We discussed the current status of the Swing Bridge and the 2018 RIT assessment of the bridge. Karl was great to have today because his engineer eyes see things from a different prospective. He pointed out some issues to be address such as the sinkhole, and proper drainage, as well as insight to how much it would best guess cost to paint and restore the Swing Bridge.

UPPER BRIDGE

I was given the chance to discuss the Upper Bridge as a member of the community. They were very open to hearing what I had to say. We discussed who owned the Bridges, Who is responsible for maintenance, and we discussed the Historical importance of the three bridges in town as a group. We presented our four areas of concern 1) History 2) Tourism 3) Supporting Local Business 4) Traffic Safety concerns.
We discussed opening up as a pedestrian bridge. If that were to happen the decking would need to be replaced, fix structural issues, and new railings put in that are much higher. The original plans for the 2008 renovation called for a pedestrian walkway to be installed on the side of the bridge to meet regulations.

ARCH BRIDGE

We discussed briefly the current plans to make the arch bridge a no weight limit bridge. I expressed that most people in town have mentioned to me they do not support his. Nor do they support a four way flashing red light at the intersection.

OLD STATE ROAD BRIDGE

Out of all the bridges, the Old State Road seems to be in the worst condition. Karl showed me the stringers on the bridge, and that you could see through holes with some of them. We talked restoration, bridge replacement, and opening for pedestrians. With the current status of the bridge, it’s going to be quite difficult to open for pedestrians as it is a liability. We also talked about bridge removal and putting up observation stations on each side. I expressed that I don’t think that would be a good solution because the real view is from the middle of that bridge.
The general theme from the County officials is that there is no money currently. I explained I certainly understand that, and that now would be a good time to start planning and come up with some solutions.

DONATIONS

I asked for their opinion on where donations would best be served. Unfortunately that is a difficult question to answer because studies would need to be done on all the bridges, which is very expensive to begin with. Until we have real numbers to work with, I’m not comfortable asking for donations.

THANK YOU

Thank You Karl, Rob, Sandy, Clayton, and Steve for joining me today. Now that we have heard prospectives from Clinton County, we hope to eventually do the same with Essex County Officials soon. We aren’t intending to make life difficult for anyone, we are just trying to preserve Keeseville’s Heritage.

I think once Essex County officials meet with me, they will realize what my real intentions are. To put a stop to the removal of the Upper Bridge, and to begin talks at the County Level for solutions of how to restore and reopen these bridges in the future before it is too late. Plan now, act at a later time. We need support from the County and we are trying to build those connections. Thank you again to everyone who joined us.