Bridge at reservoir is back to two lanes
The dividing weir bridge that carries Reservoir Road over the Ashokan Reservoir opened to two-way traffic Wednesday for the first time since February 2015.
The century-old bridge had been restricted to one lane of traffic in each direction, regulated by traffic lights at either end of the span, while crews rehabilitated the structure’s concrete support arches. The traffic lights were taken down Wednesday morning, according to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which maintains the bridge and operates the reservoir.
The department said a 16-ton weight limit remains in effect on the bridge, which connects the town of Olive hamlets of Olivebridge at the south end and Shokan at the north end.
The project initially was forecast to be completed by the fall of 2015, but the discovery of additional damaged concrete on the underside of the bridge led to a much longer repair process, the department said. It said workers wound up replacing five times the amount of concrete anticipated when the project began.
In December 2015, the estimated completion date was pushed back to summer 2016, but that, too, proved overly optimistic.
The department said Wednesday that the project cost $5 million to complete. The original estimate was $500,000 to $1 million.
A new dividing weir bridge is to be designed and constructed over the next decade, the department said.
The dividing weir separates the east and west basins of the Ashokan Reservoir. In September 2016, the Department of Environmental Protection replaced the weir’s four cast-iron gates, weighing more than 9 tons each, that control the flow of water between the two basins.