Lake Champlain Bridge - broken and closed

Video shows Champlain Bridge cracks. A video released Tuesday by the New York Department of Transportation (DOT) shows extensive cracking on at least one of the concrete piers supporting the closed Lake Champlain Bridge linking Addison to Crown Point, New York. Officials closed the bridge October 16 after discovering cracks in at least two concrete piers supporting the span. The closure has caused headaches for commuters who must take circuitous routes to get to work. Businesses near the bridge are crippled because the roughly 3,400 vehicles that crossed the span daily now go elsewhere, leaving the businesses with fewer customers. The underwater video was taken by divers who have been inspecting the piers to determine how extensive the cracking and damage is and to help engineers determine how best to fix the problem. The video, posted by the New York DOT on its Lake Champlain Bridge update page, shows a wide, wavering, diagonal crack extending along several feet of the pier below the water’s surface. Engineers say cracks with a relatively horizontal orientation, like some of the cracks in the piers, are particularly dangerous because the section of the pier above the crack could slip laterally. In a worst-case scenario, such a slip would make the bridge partly or wholly collapse, engineers have said. A New York DOT spokesman, echoing comments from Vermont officials, said he is optimistic a free ferry soon will operate just south of the closed bridge. The ferry would remain open all winter with ferries designed to move through or break ice, he said. Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091104/NEWS02/91104001