Six months after its official opening, the Lake Champlain Bridge, traversing the point between Crown Point, New York and Chimney Point, Vermont, stands as a testament to the efficiency and speed with which modern bridges are built. Spanning nearly 7 ½ football fields, or 2,200-feet, the bridge cost a total of $76 million dollars and was built in just over two years. Remarkable, because initial estimates told residents that building the new bridge could take up to nine.
Workers were placed on a strictly expedited building process, necessary to the New York and Vermont Departments of Transportation because of the number of residents who relied on crossing Lake Champlain for work and medical needs. The bridge features a modified network tied arch design, and the contract for its construction was won by Flatiron Constructors of Longmont, Colorado.
The bridge which the Lake Champlain Bridge replaced was known simply as the Champlain Bridge, built in 1929 and closed in 2009 after being deemed unsafe for commuters. The opening of the new bridge led to a grand celebration which featured 1929 era open cars, ridden by a few who were present for the opening of the original bridge in August of that year, as some of the first to cross over.
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