Mt. Kisco's Preston Way Bridge Gets 'Yellow Flag' from DOT

While Chappaqua's downtown bridge , Mount Kisco has its own span over the rails to worry about, albeit a smaller one.

This week, the Village Board of Trustees approved the use of up to $2,000 for hiring a consulting engineer to study conditions of the bridge over Preston Way, in light of a critical report from the state's department of transportation (DOT).

The DOT report, sent to the village in August, gives the bridge a Yellow Flag status. The reason for this is because of eight exposed stirrups within a spall under the bridge. Seven of those stirrups, according to the DOT report, have lost their concrete casing entirely. The problem spall is on the left face of one of the columns, while the other faces on the column, as well as two other columns, showed cracking at the corners, according to the DOT.

The money that the trustees approved would allow for Village Manager James Palmer to hire Grossfield Marci PC, the firm that gave a price quote of close that amount in an August letter. The consulting engineering firm wants to do an inspection of the bridge to look at the conditions that the DOT documented, followed up by a structural evaluation. A report would then be issued with recommendations for how to fix the problems.

The extent of such repairs are not anticipated to be severe enough to need external support, according to Palmer. Remedies could include removing loose concrete and putting in new concrete.

There is a question, however, about whether or not the bridge is the village's responsibility. While the DOT records suggest that it is, Palmer told the trustees that it would be checked.

The columns are not the only aging part of the bridge that the village is looking at. Earlier this year, the village trustees approved of an application for community development block grant (CDBG) funds to fix the deck and a sidewalk. The deck was last fixed in 1995, according to Palmer.