As of Wednesday, Mar. 5, the Ponquogue Bridge is reopened to vehicles weighing under 5 tons until further notice, as well as pedestrians. The normal weight limit is usually 40 tons. Two-lane traffic will be spirited around the locations of the safety repairs. The 2,812-foot-long bridge, completed in 1986 and hovering over Shinnecock Bay in Hamptons Bay, is officially maintained by the Department of Works for Suffolk County. However, a routine inspection by the New York State Department of Transportation on Feb. 20 revealed structural “deterioration of the concrete girder. ” That caused a temporary complete closing of the bridge. Procedures and courses have been launched with the goal of proclaiming the bridge 100% safe for cars and trucks, and they are now underway. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said the Ponquogue Bridge is “critically important” to emergency services and businesses.
The name Ponquogue comes from the Native American words “Pawonon Quogue,” reportedly meaning “pond at the place where the bay bends.” Matt Culen, founder of Hudson Marine, a company that took part in the construction of the Jordan Haerter Bridge in Sag Harbor along with successful repairs on the Robert Moses Bridge system was kind enough to share his thoughts. After reviewing both photos of the inspection and the quotes in the papers, he said, “…there is a problem at the top, essentially, some deterioration of the top.” To repair that and fix it safely Mr.Culen said, “They will perhaps have to build a scaffold because essentially the concrete has deteriorated or popped off. There’s possibly some way of blocking it a little bit, but it depends on how much of the concrete is spoiled and under the bearing. Yes, it can be repaired. It’s not the end of the world. You can have a hanging scaffold, probably that will do it. It doesn’t look like it’s a huge job. It looks pretty localized.”
Culen gave his expert opinion that blocking the road around the area that is being repaired will enable a repair job while the bridge is in fact still being used to limited traffic to just light vehicles.
He concluded once they know what they are doing and have their mind made up and if all the repair is extremely localized it could be done in a week or so. Adding, ” I would think depends on how big the deterioration is, you know, if it’s a spall that is about one or two square feet in a critical area then it’s not a big job,” if not it will take longer.
Ryan Murphy, the Southampton emergency management administrator, gave his assessment explaining special permits will be officially issued for ambulances over five tons. Town officials, as Mr. Culen predicted, have shifted traffic patterns, but it was flowing in both directions. The redirection was designed to ease stress on the girder of most concern.
Now the problem will be concerning the weight limitations to the commercial fishing fleet and the Hampton Bays Fire Department. The only 5-ton limit heavy vehicles that transport fish, and fire apparatus, these heavy vehicles will not be able to use the bridge.
Fishing fleets are now using alternative routes that add 5.4 miles to travel time to the western side of town. That will hamper commercial deliveries and pickups for businesses on the eastern tip of Dune Road. The Hampton Bays Fire Department is coordinating with other fire departments to make plans to cover portions of the fire district to Dune Road.
There has been no announcement if an option might be to systematically redo the whole bridge. The present bridge cost $14M and, in 1986, replaced the original 1930 wooden draw bridge that only was 1000 feet long. That bridge had a reducing weight issue due to aging wood. For that bridge, the replacement process actually took from first planning in 1973 until it opened in 1986. The old bridge ruins are used as a fishing pier by local fishermen.
Hopefully the bridge returns to its full capacity sooner than later. Although some questions remain, progress is being made. “Mike the Bartender at Sunday’s” an establishment on Dune Road said even with the bridge limited “Sunday’s” will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, until April. Then they will revise the schedule as it gets closer to the season.
