Adams Basin canal bridge repairs on schedule

The engineer's design for repairs to the Adams Basin (Route 36) bridge over the Erie Canal will be completed by December 2004 and work on the bridge can begin as scheduled in May 2005, according to information which Ogden Supervisor Gay Lenhard has received.

In a conference call with NYS Senator George Maziarz and New York Canal Corp. representative Charles Moynihan, Lenhard said she learned that the lift bridge project is progressing.

The bridge on Washington Street in Adams Basin was reopened in November 2003 when the canal closed. It will remain open to vehicular traffic until May and then will be raised, as it has been the past two summers, to allow for boat traffic on the canal. The lift mechanisms in the historic bridge need to be replaced and until they are, the bridge can not be raised and lowered as frequently as the boating season demands. The bridge will reopen in November 2004 and then close again in May 2005. At that time, major overhauling repairs will begin and the bridge will remain closed until they are completed.