CaseStudy:Programmatic Agreement for Lake Champlain Bridge Replacement

In an unusual set of circumstances, the historic Lake Champlain Bridge (also known as the Crown Point Bridge) that had been scheduled for repair or replacement was discovered to be at risk of collapse and therefore posed an imminent danger to public safety in October 2009 and was demolished on December 28, 2009. A new Programmatic Agreement designed to safeguard historic resources during the construction of a replacement bridge was signed in late January 2010.

Details
The Lake Champlain Bridge, the only bridge spanning Lake Champlain and connecting New York Highway 185 and Vermont Highway 17, became the subject of a planning process begun several years ago between the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the Vermont Agency of Transportation (Vtrans) that aimed to renovate or replace the historic structure in 2012. However, an inspection in late 2009 revealed that the bridge was no longer structurally sound due to unsafe support piers. The bridge was closed to traffic on October 16, 2009, and taken down by explosive demolition in late December.

The original bridge dated to 1929 and was one of the nation’s first long-span continuous truss bridges, and its arch design was used on numerous subsequent bridges. Removal of the old bridge was conducted under a different Programmatic Agreement (PA) on November 25, 2009.

The location of the once and future bridge is in a richly historic region, and the new bridge construction poses potential for adverse effects to archaeological sites and historic sites at or near the bridge site itself.

In the vicinity of the bridge are Fort Crown Point, Fort Frederic, the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse, the Crown Point Steamboat Pier, and the Chimney Point State Historic Site.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) created the most recent PA in consultation with the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Vermont SHPO, Vtrans, NYSDOT, and other parties. The PA sets procedures for mitigation of adverse effects and outlines the steps necessary in the review and approval of the final design of the new bridge. The potential effects of the construction impacts include, but are not limited to, access, staging and vibration, and impacts on known and/or as yet unidentified historic and cultural resources that cannot be fully determined prior to approval of the undertaking.