quote:
Originally posted by SteveG
Crazy. I guess indefinitely is about 2 weeks. Is there a link that shows it reopened?
Steve,
Sorry they announced it on the news that it had been re-opened .. they inspected it and found no problems
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_228115810
August 16, 2007
River traffic back to normal as Cut drawbridge reopens
By Richard Gaines , Staff writer
Gloucester Daily Times
Big boat traffic on the Annisquam River was back to normal yesterday, a week after the Blynman drawbridge was locked down to allow emergency repairs of the unstable east seawall and the tender's house.
The Coast Guard reopened the Blynman Canal - the Cut - to all river traffic after the Massachusetts Highway Department ordered the bridge back in service as of 3 p.m., at least a week earlier than expected when the emergency lockdown was announced.
District director Patricia Leavenworth made the decision and informed Sen. Bruce Tarr and Mayor John Bell.
The tight intersection of boats and automobiles became a work zone last Friday after divers discovered the seawall had been damaged by wave action and erosion, threatening the stability of the control house from which the bridge is raised and lowered.
NEL Corp., which runs the bridge under a contract with the state, pulled its employees from the white house at the Cut and Western Avenue.
Concrete was poured into the foundation Monday while gaps in the seawall blocks were grouted.
It was originally estimated that the emergency repairs would take 14 to 20 days.
"We are pleased that normal drawbridge operations will resume much sooner than expected," said MassHighway spokesman Erik Abell.
The bridge lockdown disrupted normal river traffic patterns. Yankee Fleet whale watch and party fishing boats moored at Cape Ann Marina, about 600 yards up the river from the Cut, were forced to go north through the Annisquam River and around the cape to enter the ocean.
Most small craft honored the closing, but some flouted the Coast Guard and zipped in and out through the Cut.
During the week of detours, only two minor incidents were reported. In one of them over the weekend, Yankee Fleet owner Jerry Hill said two of his boats ran aground briefly in the shoals off Thurston's Point.
Based on bridge tender John Aiello's estimate that in summer the bridge opens 50 to 60 times a day, the time it spent closed meant it missed opening at least 300 times.
NEL Treasurer Philip LaRoche said the Blynman drawbridge is the second busiest on the Atlantic coast.
