After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a newly built bridge across Lake Champlain was officially opened to traffic on November 7, 2011. The Lake Champlain Bridge connects Crown Point, New York, with Chimney Point, Vermont. This structure replaced a bridge that had opened at that location in 1929 and was demolished in 2009.
It took only about two years to complete the current bridge. This fast-track schedule was implemented to help minimize the potentially negative social and economic impacts that could result from the lack of any bridge in the vicinity during an extended period of time.
“A project that would have taken eight years was condensed to just over two years,” said Joan McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), at the time of the Lake Champlain Bridge’s opening. “It has been a great team effort between New York Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation [VTrans].”
Sue Minter, deputy secretary of VTrans, highlighted the innovative design of the bridge. She also talked about the new structure’s expected durability. “This bridge is built to last a long, long time,” commented Minter.
Measuring 2,200 feet (670 meters) in length, the Lake Champlain Bridge is jointly maintained by NYSDOT and VTrans.
Photo Credit: Doug Kerr (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)
For more information on the Lake Champlain Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Champlain_Bridge_(2011%E2%80%93present)
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