The Oswego Bridge Street Bridge Project

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The Bridge Street Bridge in Oswego, NY is being replaced over the next 10 or so months. The last time it was overhauled was in the '60s. The bridge is part of NY Route 104, a main East/West route along Lake Ontario, and part of the Seaway Trail, one of NY's Byways. With the city of Oswego divided between the East & West sides of the river, the college of 9,000+ on the West & Walmart on the East, and a Harborfest festival that takes place on both sides of the river and invites close to 300,000 visitors, the loss of the main artery across the river will slow things down a bit. Traffic is detoured on the Utica Street bridge, one block south of route 104, and the city has done its best to plan for the new routing; so far things are far smoother than expected. I'll try to post images of the rebuilding process as often as possible.

It's Closed! 4/1/08	It's Closed! 4/1/08	Work Is Starting 4/10/08	The Cranes Move In 4/17/08
4/17/08	The Cranes Move In 4/17/08	The Cranes Move In 4/17/08	Busting Concrete 4/18/08
Busting Concrete 4/18/08	Moving Slabs 4/18/08	Busting Concrete 4/18/08	Still Working 5/9/08

As the work continues to remove the old bridge, they are already delivering & setting in place the new steel beams that will support the new one. I also included a photo of the Utica street bridge to show the typical back up around lunch time. For those familiar with Oswego, the traffic is backed up from East 1st street to West 7th. Most of the time it os a one or two traffic light wait, but during peak times is is longer. Should be interesting this saturday with the college graduation taking place on the west side of the river & most of the hotel rooms on the east.

1/3 Gone 5/15/08	Adding a New Beam 5/15/08	A New Beam Arrives 5/15/08	Utica Street Backup 12:30 5/15/08

Not a lot of changes over the last month, at least visible. They are welding pipes, but haven't torn up any more of the main pavement.

View From HSBC 6/13/08	Welding Pipe 6/13/08	6/13/08

The word is the entire deck of the bridge will be gone by the end of next week (July 4th). The west end is already gone as of today (6/26/08).

Looking South	Looking West 6/26/08	6/26/08

The deck is just about gone:

Looking West 7/2/08	Looking West 7/10/08	Looking West 7/10/08	Looking West 7/10/08

Looking West 7/10/08

Well, the Utica Street bridge survived Harborfest. I don't know how backed up it got; I stayed on the West side of the city during the afternoons & evenings, but Friday morning it wasn't any worst than normal.

The rebar is well underway - makes for a green bridge:

The Crew! 8/4/08	A Green Sea of Rebar

Well, back from vacation, & it looks like I missed the concrete pour! Here is what it looks like on August 22nd, 2008.

Not a lot of changes as of the September 9th. They have stopped soaking the concrete deck, and are even driving on it. They are installing the rebar for the sidewalks & railings.

September 22, 2008 - Some new photos of the crew pouring the sidewalks & railings.

October 19, 2008 - The railings are done; about all that is left is the approaches to the bridge & final touches. It appears that everything is on schedule.

October 28, 2008 - They are checking out the railings, and working on both approaches...

Checking Under the Railings	West Side Looking East	East Side Looking West

The plan is to open the bridge almost a month early. As long as the weather cooperates, the bridge will open by November 10th.

There will be an opening ceremony on the West side of the bridge at 1:00PM on Sunday, November 9th.

The weather held off long enough to perform the opening ceremonies. Hundreds of people listened to a couple of short speeches, and the ribbon cutting, after which the Oswego Marching Band lead the crowd across the bridge. The bridge opens to traffic Monday afternoon. It will probably take at least a few days for traffic patterns to get back to normal. Work on the Utica Street Bridge is expected to start next year. The plan is to keep one lane open in each direction during the project, so it shouldn't cause as much of a problem as Bridge Street.

Looking East	Looking West	Taking a Picture in the Middle of the Bridge!	Interviewing Mayor Bateman
More Interviews - Josh Ribakove, NY DOT	How Often Can You Sit in the Middle of the Bridge?	Fred Crisafulli Photographs Mayor Bateman	Opening the Ceremony
Mayor Bateman	The Crowd	Cutting the Ribbon	The Oswego marching Band Warming Up
Oswego Marching Band	Oswego Marching Band	Crossing the Bridge	Don't Relax - The Utica Street Bridge is Next!

November 10, 2008 - It is Open!