95-year-old bridge gets replaced, former bridge to be demolished
Residents on Niska Isle don’t have to worry about losing access to the surrounding area as the newly constructed bridge is completed ahead of schedule.
New York State Department of Transportation officials announced the new Ferry Road Bridge over the Mohawk River Backchannel in Niskayuna was completed early November, ahead of the Nov. 30 deadline and residents have been enjoying access on the new bridge.
The old bridge was built in 1915 and it just had reached the end of its useful life, said Richard Filkins, design project manager for NYSDOT. `I don’t think there are a lot of other bridges quite as old as this one.`
In February, the $4.9 million project began, but now that the bridge is constructed the final steps of the project will continue through June. The old bridge is planned to be demolished during the winter months and the wetland mitigation areas will be created in the spring.
`The old bridge would have failed at some point and then we would have had to deal with finding a way to people getting back and forth from property,` said Filkins.
Mary E. Ivey, regional director for NYSDOT, shared his concern about residents getting cut off outlaying areas.
`I am committed to maintaining and upgrading the transportation infrastructure of the Capital District with bridges such as this, which provides a safe and reliable crossing for motorists and emergency vehicles and ensures that residents can continue to get the essential goods and services they rely on,` said Ivey in a prepared statement.
The former aging one-lane bridge was replaced with a 14-foot wide one-lane bridge built to the east of the old structure. James H. Maloy, Inc., of Albany, was contracted to construct the bridge, which is a four-span conventional girder bridge. Construction Supervisor Michael Gray for NYSDOT said roughly 1,000 cubic meters of concrete and 441,000 pounds of steel were used to construct the bridge.
One element with the older bridge was the line of sight across the bridge wasn’t optimal, so the vertical curve of the new bridge was greatly reduced to allow for full sight across the bridge. The previous and current bridge has no traffic light, but the light traffic of the bridge and awareness of locals has prevented accidents, said Filkins.
He said previously he drove across the old bridge and realized after he was on it that another car was crossing the bridge. Cars tended to drive slowly over the old bridge, he said, and the only accident he could recall was a car trying to turn around on the bridge resulting in the motorist hitting the bridge structure.
Gray said there are eight houses and one farm on the peninsula and data shows there is an average of 150 trips a day across the old bridge. The one-lane style bridge was kept due to the light traffic and budgetary constraints, said Filkins. To fully repair the old bridge would have cost just as much, he said, but would have added logistical problems.
`It would have cost just as much to bring it up to standards,` said Gray. `In trying to do that you couldn’t have allowed traffic to cross it so we threw that out right away.`
Around a century ago there was no need for the bridge, but when the Erie Canal was upgrade the backchannel water rose and residents could no longer access their homes, said Gray.
`It is a little local rode, but that is why New York State is involved with it,` said Gray explaining the history.
The Town of Colonie water line was also replaced during the project, because the new bridge was constructed over the existing water line.
`The biggest challenge was really getting the water line done, that was a tricky operation,` said Gray. `It was a bit tricky in some spots, but it got done.`
If the bridge construction wasn’t completed on time there was a $2,500 per-day penalty for the construction company.“
