Issue Date: HHN - November 21, 2008, Posted On: 11/18/2008
Bridge project centerpiece of community revitalization project
Rheaume's crew begin
spraying the concrete into the deck molding.
FORT ANN, NY — A $4.9 million bridge and road reconstruction project in
Fort Ann, NY is nearing completion as the new truss bridge rises above
the old Champlain Canal in Washington County and the roadway is
reconfigured.
The New York Department of Transportation, Region 5, spearheaded the
project, which was handled by Reale Construction, Inc., of Ticonderoga,
NY. Reale Construction project superintendent Paul Haran said the
203-foot span incorporates 230 tons of steel — excluding the
concrete deck — and is replacing the similarly configured Clay Hill
Road bridge over the Champlain Canal.
The old American Bridge Co. bridge is immediately adjacent to the new
span, and has served this Washington County, New York community well
since its erection by the United Construction Co. Contractors, of
Albany, in 1911.
Haran said the project actually began in 2007. “We came back this past
year for the abutments, and poured those.” The overall project took off
in earnest in the spring. It includes the full bridge replacement,
reconstruction of the road, realignment of the road, installation of
new drainage and installation of electrical conduits for railroad
signals.
Reale partnered with Burt Crane and Rigging, of Green Island, NY. Both
had been onsite “about a month” as the bridge's superstructure came
together. Burt Crane and Rigging provided the operation with a Liebherr
150-ton crane and a Grove 175-ton crane, both operating “well within
capacity here,” according to Haran.
“We've got our route proposed and all lined out. It's a
realignment of Ann Street,” Haran explained. “We'll start fine grading
this week and then paving to the railroad tracks the next (week). Where
the new road gets shifted, the railroad — Canadian-Pacific — will put
in new signals. We have to put the (electrical) conduit in for them.”
This cost includes 170 meters of roadway to track from light and 325
meters, including going across the bridge to the other side. “We'll use
our excavator LinkBelt 240 to peel the blacktop,” Haran said. “They
will top soil and seed.”
With the community Fort Ann engaged in bridge project from the outset,
the DOT signed off on a replacement bridge that echoed the look of the
original truss bridge. "I think they did it to go with the historical
aspect of it,” Haran said. “They could have done it in half the time.”
Even the abutments, he said, were “designed to get the look of the old
canal.”
In late October, Clemente Fane Concrete, of Albany, NY, supplied the
240 cubic yards “and change” of concrete for the deck, Haran said.
According to Reale bridge superintendent Lennie Rheaume, Clemente Fane
also provided a cement pump truck, which quickly handled the 10-yard
loads of concrete brought to the site via an ongoing line of trucks,
“and we're anticipating 20 minutes to a truck,” Rheaume.
With a light rain forecast, Rheaume said he and Haran “watched the
Doppler continuously. Today they said showers would diminish. The
bridge is up to temperature (40 degrees). Once the concrete is poured,
we'll cover it for a 14 day wet cure, which is followed by a 14 day dry
cure.”
With a rousing, “Hey boys, it's show time!”, Rheaume's crew began
spraying the concrete into the deck molding, and the process took over.
According to Rheaume, “If it was a perfect world and everything ran
right, we'd get this done in eight hours. But I don't see that
happening.” Dumps, he said, are “notorious” for glitches. Couple that
with traffic delays and he sees a conservative time to complete the
deck at around 8 hours. 24 trucks at about 30 minutes per truck.
In the end, Reale's construction team had a near “perfect world,” with trucks coming in at closer to the 20-minute mark.
With final roadwork being done, the bridge is expected to be open to
the public by Thanksgiving Day. The old bridge will be demolished, and
dropped into the frozen Champlain Canal sometime during the winter, at
which time it will be fully dismantled and hauled away.
“We're supposed to have traffic on it by Thanksgiving,” Haran said.
We'll drop the old (bridge) one during the winter, and blowing the
abutments and dropping them as well.”
