Floating bridge is sinking down; closed by state
Toolbox
Times Argus Staff - Published: May 17, 2008
MONTPELIER – The famed floating bridge over Sunset Lake in Brookfield is not floating very well. And that means a detour this summer.
State transportation officials have put concrete blocks at the entrances to the bridge in Brookfield and have decided to close it for the summer. In fact, because it needs major repairs, state transportation officials said it is very unlikely to re-open this year.
Normally, the 330-foot bridge that carries Route 65 over the lake is re-opened each spring. However, bridge inspectors discovered recently that the span has become too badly damaged to be safely driven over by vehicles.
"Our bridge inspectors look at it every year before we open it," said Secretary of Transportation Neale Lunderville. "We do not feel it is safe for any kind of passenger vehicles to pass over it."
It will remain open to pedestrians and the anglers who fish from it and swimmers who use it to dive into the lake.
Reaction to the closure of Brookfield's main tourist attraction depends on whom you talk to.
"I am devastated," said Connie Karal, who runs the Brookfield Bed & Breakfast with her husband George and is worried about losing business. "This happened to us when the dam broke several years ago," forcing the bridge to close. because the water level in the pond sank.
She said with gas prices already trimming traffic, now the village will lose folks who come to Brookfield to drive across the landmark. She noted AAA has put the bridge on one of three routes in Vermont and news of its closure will undoubtedly be broadcast.
She wondered how the state could ignore the fact Route 65 is a state road that leads to Allis State Park and 150 homes that will be cut off as a result. What bothered her most was the fact she had no warning.
"I appreciate the safety factor but the thing that blew me away is the total way it was handled," she said, noting residents heard of the closure secondhand or from media reports.
Cartoonist Ed Koren, who lives in the village, sympathizes with the businesses that may be hurt but said the plus side is the village gets "a pedestrian space" and it should make summer quieter.
"In the middle of the night it's a Mecca and magnet for local ruffians," he said, who like to drive over through the water that rises over the decking.
But he added, " I feel sorry for the people on the other side of the bridge."
The bridge, which is 70 years old, is not anchored to the banks or installed on pilings. Instead it relies on 380 "floats" to remain on top of the water. The bridge was last reconstructed in 1978 and wooden portions of it are in rough shape, according to the agency.
Drivers will have to use a 2.7 mile detour through backroads as they do during the winter for the foreseeable future.
"Our engineers and inspectors looked at it this week and decided there is no easy fix," Lunderville said. "We don't have good estimates at this point. It is going to be an expensive repair."
According to Koren, local residents think the Styrofoam floats may be waterlogged or the anchors that hold the bridge may have shifted, causing the increased dip in the bridge. In either case, the high water that laps the decking meant that the oil pan of vehicles was splashing into the water and the closure should make the lake cleaner, he said.
The transportation agency's new prioritization program considers how much use roads and bridges get when determining what order they are put in for major construction work. The agency has also, where possible, eliminated amenities in those projects to try and stretch transportation money in an era of declining Transportation Fund revenues.
The floating bridge does not get a huge amount of traffic, but neither is it just an amenity, according to officials.
"It serves an important transportation role," Lunderville said. "We wish we would be able to open it this year."
However, that is unlikely to happen, Lunderville said.
"Ultimately we have to make the determination of safety and that is what our inspectors have done," he said.
Jane Doerfer, who owns the Green Trails Inn, said many of her patrons "love the floating bridge idea" and said the closure would definitely hurt business.
"I have a lot of photos of people driving across the bridge on my Web site," she said.
For at least this summer, that's not going to happen.
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