Back to the Bridges

     Time to remember a few more bridges out of Washington County's past (as well as several with a future). Last post we looked at rail spans over the Hudson and Battenkill Rivers. Let's stick around Hudson Crossing for a bit and then move up the canal to revisit some of its 'ghost bridges'.

     This illustration by Tim Forbes shows the bridge of boats that General Burgoyne used to get his army from the east side of the river to the west in August 1777. It's one of the structures (albeit temporary) that gives Hudson Crossing its name. Given the outcome of the Battle of Saratoga a short time later, the British may have wished they never crossed over. An aside: it must have been fun to get those oxen over  wobbly planks set on top of rocking bateaux.

Aerial view of the Dix Bridge from Hudson Crossing's website

     The Dix Bridge and I go way back. I remember driving across it many times in the past. After it was closed to traffic I'ld hop the barricades and scoot over on running loops thru Clarks Mills and up towards Bald Mountain or along Windy Hill Road. Since 2013 you can actually do this legally after the bridge was refurbished for pedestrians and cyclists. It was originally built in 1895 as a 'free bridge' with no toll. I'm all for freedom and all for the Dix Bridge, which can be seen and strolled over from Hudson Crossing Park. 

 

     The Co. 113 bridge over the Battenkill between the Towns of Greenwich and Easton was replaced recently. The photos above are before and after shots. They did a nice job and now when I explore the river bed at low water I don't have to worry about the bridge falling on my head. You can approach it by canoe up the Battenkill or from along the bank where the H&V plant grants access. The mill doesn't seem to use the heavily wooded point of land at the confluence of the Hudson and the 'Kill. Maybe someday there could be trails here connecting to Hudson Crossing via the Dix Bridge.

     Both the older Champlain Canal and the newer Barge Canal had bridges that have come and gone with time. Let's look at what remains of a few:

     Not all bridges went over the canal. These 'then and now' images  are of an aqueduct that carried the canal above the Moses Kill. Best seen (along with the trolley bridge in the previous post) from a canoe.

     A towpath arch in Fort Edward alongside Rt. 4. That's Bond Creek just before it empties into the Hudson. Looks like beavers have contributed some engineering. 

     At Lock 9 of the Barge Canal in Smith's Basin you'll see these abutments of a former rail bridge over Wood Creek. The tracks went to a lime quarry/kiln just to the east. The only traffic here now are pleasure boats on the canal and bicycles on the Empire State Trail.

     Going, going, gone. Two photos from the web and one I took  document the fate of Dewey's Bridge in the Town of Fort Ann. It was built in 1911 and demolished in 2013. It crossed near where Winchell Creek flows into the canal (formerly Wood Creek). Why wasn't it left for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians? A nearby sign tells the areas history.

 

Winchell Creek

     One of the most unique of the canal bridges was located in Whitehall. Known as the Clinton Street Bridge it was converted to a performance space called the Bridge Theatre. Originally built in 1911, it was condemned in 2009 and removed in 2015.

Web image

     You could do a book on bridges in and around Whitehall. With the Wood Creek/Champlain Canal, the Mettawee and Poultney Rivers plus railroads and highway crossings there have been a lot of bridges down thru the years. Old photos show a foot bridge over the canal that was wiped out by a barge and a covered bridge from long ago over Wood Creek. Gone and all but forgotten.

     I've got a few more interesting bridge sites to share so we'll have to do a third post soon.