Engineers scrambled to change plans after part of the new Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail bridge over New Scotland Road in Slingerlands buckled earlier this month.
Officials say the span, which is currently under construction, was damaged after concrete decking was poured onto the bridge. No was injured and the structure was temporarily shored up to prevent a total collapse. Deputy Albany County Executive Dan Lynch says removal of that structure is expected to conclude by the end of the week.
“Once the steel is removed, and the structures removed, it will be back to the New York State Department of Transportation to continue their work on Route 85," said Lynch. " That work consists of drainage work, paving and side work. As far as a timeline on completion of that it was always was anticipated that prior to the incident with the installation of the new bridge, that the they would complete by the end of July, early August. That is clearly subject to change at this point. So we're awaiting a more firmed up timeline from state DOT on when they'll be able to complete their work in Route 85. Upon that completion, the Eastbound traffic on State Route 85 will reopen between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. And that's that, that that we're anticipating that to happen by the end of August.”
The major infrastructure project has been ongoing for months and requires trail users to detour around the site.
Richard Price of Slingerlands says folks wonder why the century-old D & H railroad bridge couldn't have remained in place.
"Why did they, you know for bicycles and road races. Why would they even go to the expense of putting in a big span like that. Yeah. But all they had to with the old one was raise it. Right? I mean, like, trains went over that for a long, long time. So I mean, to me, it's just, oh look what happened," Price said.
Lynch says eastbound traffic on State Route 85 is expected to reopen from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. by the end of August.
"At the same time as the removal of the bridge and the completion of route 85 work from state D O T, we're working with an engineering company on design for a temporary pedestrian bridge to put in place in hopes that we can reopen both the roadway and the rail trail by the expected, which was the anticipated date of the end of October," said Lynch.
Republican Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm of the 29th district says County Director of Operations George Penn told the legislature's Public Works committee Tuesday night the temporary bridge could be in place by the end of September.
"They expect an engineering report by the end of next week, and that will shed more light on the bridge collapse," Grimm said. "That's very important because right now, this collapse is going to cost an awful lot of money. And no one's really sure who's responsible. So that's really critical, what the engineers reports say about how the bridge collapsed, who's responsible and who really is responsible for paying for the fix. They also said that there's going to be a temporary bridge installed by the end of September, which will help there but it's going to be a long time before a permanent bridge is in place there."
The cost of replacing the bridge has ballooned over the last four years.
"Now they have to clean up the bridge and store it because it's an investigation. And that costs money," said Grimm. "So now it's going to cost more than what it originally was going to cost and people are going to be inconvenience which is the real big story is people going to be inconvenienced for a substantial amount of time."
Engineers say their goal is to have both lanes of the roadway open by Halloween. Lynch adds the investigation into the incident continues.
