The Ferry Street bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since early October 2014. The effort to repair or replace the bridge has seemed like a textbook instance of Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." In his report at Monday night's informal Common Council meeting, Rob Perry, Superintendent of Public Works, explained the latest delay. The NYS Department of Transportation is asking the City to resubmit documentation that has already been submitted--specifically archaeological reports and information about the historic significance of the bridge.
Many have believed that the bridge, constructed in 1905, is historically significant. The images below, juxtaposing a historic photograph of the bridge with one taken around 2014, suggest that the bridge, one of only three surviving historic elements of the waterfront, has changed very little in the past hundred years.
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The bridge, along with Shaw Bridge in Claverack, is among nine bridges in Columbia County listed at HistoricBridges.org. The bridge was documented by HistoricBridges.org in November 2o11, and this is what was said about it:
This bridge is an extremely unusual and historic structure. The bridge is firstly noted for its use of three truss lines, allowing it to provide a wider roadway, albeit with a truss in the middle. Secondly, the subdivided double-intersection Warren pony truss configuration is also unusual. Another oddity is that the end panels of this bridge are not subdivided, but all the others are. The vertical end posts are also an unusual detail in the design of this bridge. Sadly, this bridge has not been maintained. Although a highway bridge, this bridge, which crosses a railroad line, in maintained by the railroad. It would be feasible to restore for continued light vehicular use, but it remains to be seen whether this sensible course of action will be taken for this bridge.
The bridge has little beams attached to the side of a bottom chord that have been cut. This suggests the bridge once had a cantilevered sidewalk.
Despite the assessment of the bridge expressed on HistoricBridges.org, the State Historic Preservation Office determined in 2018 that the bridge is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. What prevents it from being eligible is that components of the bridge were salvaged from the Albany Freight Bridge, constructed in 1866 and dismantled around 1902. Also diminishing its historic significance are the modifications made to the bridge in 1915 (just ten years after it was built), 1934, 1955, and 1995.
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Recall that for years the holdup was a dispute as to the rightful owners of the bridge. According to Bill Krattinger of NYS SHPO, this was the reason it was never eligible for a review by his office.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall it was the now-missing cantilevered walkways along both sides of the bridge deck which were the most damning alteration, and not so much the fact that the steel was reused.
Originally, the bridge had five trusses which is readily apparent in an aerial photograph taken in the 1930s.
A 2015 Gossips post discusses the resolution of the question of ownership:
https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2015/08/another-evening-at-city-hall.html