Selecting a Bridge Location

In 1927, the Lake Champlain Bridge Commission considered six possible locations in the southern Lake Champlain region for a new bridge and chose the Crown Point-Chimney Point site because it offered the best geological conditions. Engineering studies found that, compared with other locations along the lake, the relatively shallow water depths and higher bedrock there made it possible to anchor the bridge piers directly into bedrock, which was necessary because of the soft soils in the lake bed and the construction methods required for the multi-span, continuous truss bridge. The site was also attractive because it lay close to recreational opportunities in the Adirondacks and Green Mountains and to important historic sites that had become tourist destinations. In a 1928 traffic study, Fay, Spofford and Thorndike based estimates of future toll income on earlier ferry traffic and on reports that tourism increased when similar projects were located near historic sites. When the bridge was completed in 1929, it provided the first direct highway connection for tourists traveling between the Adirondack and Green Mountains.

Crown Point, New York · United States