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Champlain Bridge’s demolition
Posted on December 29th, 2009 6 comments Add a comment >>
The Champlain Bridge after its demolition. Photos by Seth Lang.
Seth Lang was part of the media horde that showed up Monday morning to watch the demolition of the Champlain Bridge. But the event held a special poignance for Seth, who grew up in Crown Point, just five miles from the bridge.
“I can’t help but feel saddened by the loss of our bridge,” he says. “Having witnessed the demolition first-hand it was overwhelming for me personally.”
Seth, who is twenty-seven, was taking photos for the Adirondack Explorer, two of which are shown here. The dismal weather was far from ideal for photography, but his shots are as good as any I’ve seen. His video can be seen here: Demolition video.
Like other residents of Crown Point, Seth hopes the bridge will be replaced as soon as possible. “Those who need the bridge for business and transportation to and from work have lost the most,” he says. “Having to put in two to three extra hours per day in travel time has made this entire situation disheartening.”
The eighty-year-old bridge—which once boasted a sculpture by Rodin—connected Crown Point to Vermont. A recent article in the New York Times describes the hardship caused by the loss of the bridge.
The bridge at the moment of detonation.
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Sierra Club on Shingle Shanty
Posted on December 29th, 2009 Add a comment >>Those of you who have been following the saga of Shingle Shanty Brook may be interested in an article that appears in the latest newsletter of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic chapter, written by Charles Morrison, the former director of natural resources at the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Morrison and two other Sierra Club members have asked DEC to force a private landowner to remove a cable strung across the brook to keep out paddlers. The club contends the public has a right to paddle the waterway. DEC says it is looking into the matter.
In the article, Morrison describes Shingle Shanty Brook as “a critical link” in the canoe trip from Little Tupper Lake and Lake Lila. The blockage of the waterway, he says, “forces paddlers to make a one-mile carry over a very rough trail in the Adirondack Forest Preserve.”
You can read the entire newsletter (which goes to about 35,000 members) by clicking here. The article in question appears on Page 8.
You can read the account of my paddle along the disputed waterway here.
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Name: Phil
Bio: Phil Brown has been editing the Adirondack Explorer since 1999. When he isn’t at his desk, he’s usually out hiking, paddling, skiing, or doing something else important. You can follow his adventures and his musings on the Adirondacks in the Explorer and on this blog.
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