Champlain Bridge

Our Bridge.  Grand Celebration May 19-20, 2012.  A publication of the Addison Independent/LCBC.

The original Champlain Bridge was designed by the Boston firm of Fay, Spofford and Thorndike and completed in 1929 to connect Fort Crown Point, New York with Chimney Point, Vermont.  Apparently, the opening was also celebrated with a "fly-under" in which a daredevil pilot in a biplane flew under the new bridge and then performed aerobatics.  

The bridge was unexpectedly closed in October 2009 after an inspection determined it to be unsafe.  It was dynamited two months later using 800 pounds of explosive.  (You can see films of this on youtube and other internet sites.)  

A new bridge was completed in 2012, but this time the opening did not include a fly-under.  It's quite a beautiful structure, designed by Ted Zoli of HNTB Corp.  I drove over it this summer.  (Be warned:  the road on the Vermont side leading to the bridge is in terrible condition.)