Ausable Pedestrian Bridge
NBI Information
Location
State: New York
County: Essex County
Feature Carried: Pedestrian Path
Feature Crossed: East Branch Ausable River
Latitude, Longitude: 44.2449, -73.7978
Structure Open, Posted, or Closed to Traffic: Open to Pedestrians
History
Year Built: 2015
Picture Date: May 25, 2023
Geometry
Lanes on Structure: 1
Lanes under Structure: 0
Number of Main Spans: 1
Main Structure Type: Truss - Thru
Main Structure Material: Metal
Condition
Bridge is not on the National Bridge Inventory
Bridge Information
The Ausable Pedestrian Bridge, also called the new Walton Bridge, opened at this location in 2015. The bridge is a welded Warren pony truss, constructed from weathering steel, and it has a noticeable bolted field splice in the middle. This bridge was previously located in AuSable Forks right before the East Branch joins the West Branch. Unfortunately, there is no information about the bridge’s previous life as a vehicular bridge, but the design and materials indicate that the bridge is fairly new.
The previous bridge at this location was the Walton Bridge, which was a rare example of a lenticular truss. This bridge was constructed in 1890 in Black Brook, New York, and it was moved to this location circa 1925 after a devastating flood washed away many small bridges in Keene. Moving and reusing obsolete bridges was a common occurrence during this time-period. This bridge remained functional until 1990, when it was closed to vehicular traffic. Unfortunately, the bridge was washed downstream and completely destroyed in the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene on August 29, 2011.
References
North County Public Radio: https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/30193/20151124/adirondack-attic-the-new-walton-bridge
Press Republican: https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/keene-bridge-opens-to-foot-pedal-paw-traffic/article_76e58631-0a00-57f8-8e4d-018e7b40faeb.html
