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Article: A BRIDGE TO NOWHERE ; When the historic Lake Champlain Bridge closed, it was more than an annoyance - it entirely upended a way of life
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- November 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ADDISON, Vt. - It was so much more than a bridge.
When Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York helped open Lake
Champlain Bridge in 1929, he and tens of thousands of onlookers were
celebrating the future of automobile travel and the expectations of
roadside commerce. The 728-yard span across the 120-mile-long lake
was a gleaming marvel of engineering that would change the way
people and goods moved forever.
Forever isn't what it used to be. The rusting bridge was closed
indefinitely on Oct. 16 after inspectors discovered that the
deterioration of at least two of the 80-year-old concrete piers
raised the threat of imminent collapse. And just as so much more
than a bridge was built, so ...