by Bea Peterson
A crew is busy clearing out trees for a new roadway that will lead to the new bridge that will replace the current bridge in Hoosick on Route 7, near Route 22, that crosses the Hoosic River. Project Superintendent Gary Cole, pointing at the old bridge, said, “The new bridge will be exactly south of this one.” The roadway will be changed to make the Route 7 and 22 intersection leading to Hoosick Falls safer.
Three pieces of equipment and a crew of five are doing the work it would have taken a full crew months to do a few short years ago. The excavator changes the land configuration and a specialized truck on tracks, also equipped with a shovel loads the materials that aren’t needed. The most impressive piece of equipment is the Feller Buncher. Cole said, “It’s awesome. It grabs, cuts and puts the stuff where it wants.” The Feller
Buncher has long metal finger like claws on it to pull up brush and small trees. It also has a large circular saw that can be used in a vertical or horizontal position. The operator can cut down a tree and lay it down and then cut the tree up into moveable pieces.
Cole said that this year they expect to complete the approach to the bridge and get the foundation and the beams set. He believes there will be minimal disruption to traffic flow while the work is going on. The bridge will be completed during the 2010 construction season. As part of the project, a river access will be completed on the property owned by the Town of Hoosick, and the parking area on Route 22, near the River will be paved.