Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 2A

2A FROM PAGE ONE SUNDAY, AUGUST 1 0, 2008 POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL Poughkeepsie 3oumal www poughkeepslejournal com Barry Rothfeld, publisher brothfeldpoughkeepslejournal com Jan Dewey, advertising director Jdeweypoughkeepsleournal com Paul Fellcleetmo, circulation director pfellclspoughkeepslejoumal com Jaan Harris, market development manager harrlsJepoughkee gannett com Howard Lawranca, production director hlawrencpoughkeepsleournal com Nora Platrafata, human resources manager npietrafpoughkeepsleJoumal com Stuart Shlnke, executive editor and director of content and audience development sshlnskegannett com Randy Sutherland controller rsutherlpoughkeepslejoumal com Pierre Swartvagher, online manager pswartvapoughkeepsieournal com (USPS 440 480) The Poughkeepsie Journal Is owned and published daily and Sunday by Poughkeepsie Newspaper Division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc Principal place of business is 85 Civic Center Plaza, PO Box 1231, Poughkeepsie 12602 Contents 2008 Poughkeepsie Journal Officers are Barry Rothfeld, president, Michael A Mart, treasurer, and Todd A. Mayman, secretary The address of Han and Mayman is Gannett Co Inc 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22107 Periodicals postage paid at Poughkeepsie The publisher reserves the right to change subscription rates dunng the term of a subscription upon 28 days' notice This notice may be by mall to subscribers by notice contained in the newspaper itself, or otherwise announced Subscnption rate changes may be implemented by changing the duration of the subscription For Poughkeepsie Journal six day and weekend subscribers, we will include the following days with your subscription at no additional cost Six day subscribers 810 Weekend subscribers 84 and 825 All advertising published In the Poughkeepsie Journal Is subject to the current applicable rate card, copies of which are available from the advertising department The Poughkeepsie Journal may in Its sole discretion, edit classify reject or cancel at any time any advertising submitted by an advertiser Postmaster: Send address changes to The Poughkeepsie Journal, Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, 12602 Suggested price Single copy 75 cents Monday Saturday $1 50 Sunday Subscription rate Standard rate $18 50 per month By mail, daily and Sunday 3 months, $92 60, 6 months $185 20, 1 year, $370 40 By mail, Sunday only 3 months, $40 20, 6 months, $80 20, 1 year, $160 80 Member The Associated Press KEEPING IN TOUCH All numbers are 845 area code. Main number 454 2000 Subscription questions, customer service Weekdays: 5 a.m 5 p.m. Saturday: 5 a m. noon Sunday: 5 a noon 877 424 4341 Advertisements Classified Weekdays 8 a m.

5 30 p.m 471 SELL Retail 437 4770 Obituaries Weekdays 8am Sat. and Sun. 1 4 451 4545 Fax numbers Classified 437 4903 News 437 4921 Retail advertising 437 4908 Ad services 437 4905 Additional help Advertising billing ..437 4708 Marketing 437 4774 Human Resources 437 4756 Online 4508 NEWS EXECUTIVES Stuart Shlnske, executive editor, director of content and audience development 437 4801 sshmskepoughkeepsieJournal com Richard L. Kleban, managing editor 437 4804 rklebanpoughkeepsiejournal com Spencer Alnsley, multimedia co director 437 4871 sainsley poughkeepsiejournal com Kathleen Dljamco, news editor 437 4843 kdijamcopoughkeepsieournal com Dean DIMarzo, multimedia co director 437 4831 ddimarzopoughkeepsiejournal com Ray Fashona, data desk editor 437 4883 rfashonaSpoughkeepsiejournal com John Ferro, senior local editor 437 4821 jferropoughkeepsiejournal com Irwin M. Goldberg, digital editor 437 4808 igoldbergOpoughkeepsiejournal com Kevin Lenlhan, local editor 437 4834 klenihanpoughkeepsieOurnal com John R.

Nelson local editor 437 4836 jrnelsonpughkeepsiejournal com John Penney, community conversation editor 437 4805 jpenneypoughkeepslejoumal com Jim Sheahan, sports editor 437 4845 jsheahanpoughkeepsiejournal com 437 4800 newsroompoughkeepsiejournal com READERS' CONTACT Readers with questions about Journal coverage should contact Public Editor Kathleen Norton at 845 4374817, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. mail: knortonpoughkee.gannett. com. Or call the appropriate editor in the Keeping in Touch box above, toll free, at 1 800 765 1120.

For subscription and delivery questions, call 1 877 424 4341. GETTING IT RIGHT The Poughkeepsie Journal corrects errors of fact To report a correction or clarification, call 845 437 4833, HHHHMRHpflpPPPPPJPPJof BBBBBVMBBBBE.rfiliHHIHll BBBBBBBBUBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBK' HMirVHBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHr' Bbbbbbbbbbb1bbbbbbbbb1bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb IPBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBF bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbIbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbwbIHMPsjSHK dbbbbbbbVbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbP bbBLbbbbbbHbbbbSBP' HBBBBBBBbTj fBbIHbBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBbS? BBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBflRaHEsS IBBBBBBBBT BggMPtlBBBBBBBBgBy IbBBBBBBBBMBBBBBBBBBBBBBM llBBBBBBBteJPSMtHBBHVHBrri PPBBBbQHbIbBBBBbB EeKXnM'' 3BP 'f 1 A TSPwIbbbbHP IBMBBBHBPjMbbbbbbMbbmbbbbbbb ltsr! HtbV ir 3 SiifiyBmu BBurwawr wMIbbbbbBsK: sjt kMi? i ibbb9MHB II mSrv JpBrriMMf i TTCITX' tflw bSUH ft? UBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHnnllBsSbP'tSJv ffT. KSOSSSOSSlKit tfejl 'k'B5jF' Ill IBubI LMbBbH BS I It llBBBBBBMBBBBBB BBBBBBbHSbKv JSBMBBBBBlBBBBKfflnSIS Jft Ufl tSU BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBH bbI IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbV' HBBaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBrBBBBBBBBBBflBw9HSPISBBM Bl raBBBBBBBBBBBBBS "ul" BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBMBBBBBlBBllBBBBBBBBf4liHBBBn 1 1 fJaBBBBBBBBBBaHL Poughkeepsie Journal file A view of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge fire as seen from Route 9 in Poughkeepsie. Fire: Residents recall blaze Continued from 1A "There were a lot of things going on at once," Decker said, recalling that fateful day. "The bridge was moving from the heat warping the tracks.

It was hairy up there," he said. Decker said firefighters originally tried to use a pipeline that had been installed specifically to fight fires on the bridge. But that pipe had broken, Decker said, and no one knew until they tried to use it for that fire. So the department switched to a backup plan. "One of our engines was pumping water straight up from the street to the bridge itself," Decker said.

Decker recalls a rope was dropped from the bridge so a hose could be attached and pulled back up. "That was the only way they were getting water up," he said. Firefighters also tore up wooden planks on the deck to prevent the fire from spreading further. But when burning pieces of the bridge started falling, police and firefighters pushed the" crowd back. Eventually, the crowd dispersed.

Sagar and her classmates realized the fire would continue for a while, she said. But some residents refused to leave. Burning debris falls Barbara Dubraski, who still lives on Dutchess Turnpike below the bridge, recalls burning debris falling from the span into her yard. "I remember there were fires breaking out all over down here," she said in an interview in April. "Every time we saw a fire in our backyard, we'd take our garden hose and put it out." She said firefighters evacuated the neighborhood and her two sons, ages 10 and 11, were taken to the Franklin School, but she and a neighbor stayed behind.

"Who would take care of our houses?" she asked. The biggest concern that day was the Central Hudson Gas Electric Corp. propane tanks across the street, under the bridge. "They were trying to protect the tanks," Decker said. Larry Hughes, a staff writer for I I'lBBBBBBBBBBBWICtr I iSilftVt i rijBBBBBBBBlBMLilJ' I ijjBBBBBBBPiiXBBBMBHBI BBBBr a Mr dBBBBBBBlTSvltV lijrt Wim'ESPA BBBBl9Pm'f IM i ii.if lflllRl ySM.

I ijaBBBBBBjIBfftf tvl Iit'jVI I 1 tH j( vyOxVjA Mtf0 tftMBBBBBBnivTlj I I IjFT'fc JtTfl MvBBbJK jiMjMjUaMjjwtfflJKjl nJlVBkJw Vbbbbbbbbk BJBJBJBHBBBHHBmBJBJBBJMMMMBJHeMBJBJBejK bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbHIbbbbbbbbbbk BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBflHSSBHEBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBlTi' BbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbmBbbbbbbbk! IbbbbbbbIbIbbbIbbbI Woody Cohen, Walkway Over the HudsonCourtesy photo People watch firefighters battle the blaze on the bridge. the Poughkeepsie Journal at the time, recalls turning from Spack enkill Road to Route 9 and seeing the smoke from the fire more than 3.5 miles away. "The sky was black," Hughes said. "It was just a black cloud that was forming." Firefighters rush to scene Peter Miller, now assistant chief for the Highland Fire Department, had been a firefighter for two years wheq he responded to a call for mutual aid from Poughkeepsie that day. He said his crew stuffed a coat into the water line to help build pressure for the Poughkeepsie crew, but with no luck.

So the crew went onto the bridge and started connecting hoses to a valve in the middle of the bridge. Firefighters ended up hand layinglaying 2,500 to 2,800 feet of hose from the center of the bridge to where the fire was, he said. The fire had so severely warped a large beam that Miller said he was afraid of it falling over the side and crashing onto the street below. Miller had walked across the bridge to Poughkeepsie, and was still on the bridge as Poughkeepsie firefighters continued to spray water onto the deck. As the deck cooled, the bridge contracted, Miller recalls.

"You had to hang on, because it was shaking violently," Miller said. Eight hours after the fire was reported, it was under control, according to an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal. Immediately after the fire, Perm Central Railroad estimated the bridge would be repaired within four to six months. Gov. Malcolm Wilson called the bridge a "vital rail link" between New England and the rest of the country, and called for immediate repairs.

Road route developed By the mid 70s, the freight rail industry was declining, and 1 84 had replaced Perm Central as the main east west shipping route through the mid Hudson Valley. "We talked about it on and off over the next couple weeks," recalls Art Weinberg, Poughkeep sie's mayor at the time. "Little by little, time passed, and nothing happened." Headlines in the following weeks documented the fall of Richard Nixon's presidency, the desperate search for Patty Hearst and the price of milk hitting 50 cents per quart. Even as attention turned away from the bridge, the fire's effects continued to be felt. "In the days and weeks following the fire, you'd drive along Route 9, and there would be pieces of wood, burnt wood, that had fallen on the roadway," Hughes said.

"They were continuing to fall, because no one had gone out there to clean them up." Reach Greg Marano at gmaranopoughkeepsleJoumal com Of 845 437 4809. i Ar '1 TTBbbWHWbbbbbbbbbbP Vjlj KlfBBMBBBT; jf nbbbbbbbbbIbbSibbbbbbbbbMkbbb! bbbbbbbbb1b9 lBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBSBBnBBBF 'KVtjIH Jf'TTIBBBBBMVlBSBBBaBBNBBVl i TbWBBtbW'IAI Lee FerrisPoughkeepsie Journal The large footing on the Poughkeepsie side of the old railroad bridge Design has helped to protect span, expert says By Greg Marano Poughkeepsie Journal Despite falling into disuse for more than 30 years, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge has largely maintained itself, inspectors said. On May 8, 1974, a fire broke out on the bridge. The blaze marked the end of the span as a train bridge. In the decades since, the design of the bridge has helped protect it from the environment.

"We determined that the condition has not changed much at all since 1969," said Peter Melewski, principal at the architecture, engineering and planning firm of Bergmann Associates, which oversaw the physical inspection of the structure. The inspection process, subcontracted to the McLaren Engineering Group of West Nyack, took place in fall 2007. The previous significant inspection was in 1980, Melewski said, and not much had changed in the 27 year interim. "The majority of the bridge has gpt ten a mild coating of rust, and that rust is protecting it from additional moisture getting to the steel," Melewski said. "It wasn't designed that way; it just happened to work out that way." 'The majority of the bridge has gotten a mild coating of rust, and that rust is protecting it.

Peter Melewski Bergmann Associates firm that oversaw the Inspection of the span Melewski said the bridge design leaves relatively few places for snow and rainwater to accumulate, further reducing the opportunity for corrosion. Walkway Over the Hudson will soon begin a $4.1 million project to replace rivets and steel at points throughout the bridge. Some deficiencies found The most significant deficiencies inspectors found were in the outside chambers of two underwater wooden caissons, each of which had a void about 50 feet long. During the original construction, these chambers, known as weighting pockets, were filled with rocks to sink the caissons to the bottom of the river bed. Sonar imaging was used to examine the interior of the caissons as part of a series of inspections.

"We could see the inner chamber wall was solid and intact, and just due to the massive size of the caissons, there's more than ample capacity left in those piers for its intended use," Melewski said. He said the caissons will have to be repaired in the future, but are strong enough to support the bridge for deck work and public use. The bridge was built to hold 11350 pounds per foot for train engines arid 6,000 pounds per foot for train cars. When the caissons are repaired, Melewski said, all work will be done above the river's bed, meaning no soil will have to be disturbed. Because almost all the other necessary work would be to build the walkway itself on the deck and access points on both ends of the bridge, there will be virtually no environmental impact on the river, Melewski said.

"Ninety nine percent of what's going on in this project is happening 200 feet in the air," Melewski said. Reach, Greg Marano at com or 845 437 4809 Koto to readers Because of an early press start, some of Saturday's numbers were unavailable. For a full listing, call the Journal hot line at 845 437 4992 or visit www. poughkeepsiejoumal.com tj LOTTERY RESULTS Saturday's numbers New York Mid day 4: 8291 Sum: 20 Mid day 413 Sum: 8 Evening 4: 6615 Sum: 18 1 Evening 3: 779 Sum: 23 Pick 10: 5, 8, 9, 2, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 38, 44, 51,57, 60, 66, 67,72,79 Connecticut PJay 4 Day: 9015 Play 3 Day: 679 1 wmM i Bl KiMMLf assl 'VTi IjHHhWJH1 Va HiBJ THRIFTY BEVERAGE will deliver to your doorstep! I Place order daily between 9am 3bm'. Call 845 454 1490 Delivery charges may apply.

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