Category:NY-5S Schoharie Creek Bridges

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search
English: Two truss bridges cross Schoharie Creek from Fort Hunter, near the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, to Amsterdam in Montgomery County, New York. Both have carried NY-5S at various times.

The older bridge is the one on the northwest of the pair. It is a 2-span Baltimore through truss bridge which was built in 1910 as a two-track railroad bridge for the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad but was abandoned when the New York Central acquired the line in 1981. When the Interstate 90 Schoharie Creek Bridge collapsed in 1987, traffic from the interstate was re-routed over the NY-5S highway bridge immediately to the southeast of the railroad bridge, and the railroad bridge was converted to carry NY-5S. Once the I-90 bridge was rebuilt, the railroad bridge carried the Canalway Trail and the Erie Canal Trail, which follow the road bed of the NYWS&B line. When Hurricane Irene damaged the highway bridge in 2011, the two bridges were swapped. This was made permanent in 2015.

The other bridge, the southeast of the pair, is a Polygonal Warren through truss bridge built as a highway bridge in 1929 and rehabilitated in 1991. It was further damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011, so NY-5S was rerouted to the older railroad bridge, which was not damaged by the storm. As of 2020, the old railroad bridge continues to carry NY-5S traffic, while the old highway bridge carries only pedestrians and bicyclists. (Source: [1])