Big Plans for That Trestle

Representatives of the Long Island Rail Road provided an update on the work being done to replace the railroad trestles crossing North Main Street and Accabonac Road in East Hampton Village at a village board meeting last Thursday. The trestles, which are renowned for being struck by trucks, will be raised from 11 to 14 feet when new bridges are installed this fall. The first phase of the project began in August with the construction of the structures’ retaining walls. “We completed the walls east of Accabonac,” said John Kettell, a structural engineer with the L.I.R.R. Another wall between the two bridges is “90-percent complete” on the north side, he said, and construction on the south side will begin in May. Mr. Kettell said that once the retaining walls are finished, the bridges’ existing stone abutments will then be replaced. Daniel Knote, a project manager for the L.I.R.R., said that a contractor would soon be hired to help build the last retaining wall and to install the bridges’ new foundations, which will consist of eight circular caissons approximately six feet wide and 75 feet deep (the exact size, he said, will be determined when a test pile is driven into the ground next month). Most of the work in May, he said, would be contained to the shoulder of Hook Mill Road and not necessitate street closures. During the installation of the caissons, which will take place in July or August, the L.I.R.R. plans to close at least one lane of Accabonac Road. A crane used to drill the bridges’ foundations will be parked in the street, he said. Village officials and L.I.R.R. representatives will meet in early May to finalize a traffic plan for the remainder of the project. When Barbara Borsack of the village board inquired about whether neighboring homeowners would be able to access their residences by car, Mr. Kettell assured her they would. The L.I.R.R. plans to install the new bridges between Oct. 15 and Nov. 10. During that time, the old structures will be removed in sequence. “We’ll start at Accabonac, close the roadway down, take that bridge out, replace that one, and then open that roadway before moving down to North Main,” Mr. Knote said. The village has requested that at least one of the streets remain open during all phases of the project. The bridges are being fabricated in Pennsylvania. They will be transported to Newark, travel by water to Mattituck, and arrive in East Hampton at least a week before installation, Mr. Kettell said. Before being installed, the 119-foot-by-16-foot spans will be stored on Hook Mill Road, he said. Light poles and trees will have to be removed to make room for the structures. Ms. Borsack asked whether the L.I.R.R. would replace the trees, and Mr. Kettell said it would, but with trees 16 to 20 feet high, they would not be ones of equal height. Mr. Knote agreed to a request from Rose Brown, another board member, to develop a landscaping plan for the entire area affected by construction. He also said the project, including work to be done on the bridges after they are in place and cleanup of the sites, would be completed by the end of the year.