They say that about 90% of an iceberg you don’t see – it is underwater. The same thing might be said for a bridge. Most of it is underneath the bridge surface. What you drive on which is visible to the eye, is just its surface…a lot is going on underneath to support the pavement you are driving on.

Thus, it was with some interest the other day, that we took a boat ride with some friends under the Chautauqua Lake Bridge to see what was going on.

What we found is that you couldn’t see much of the reconstruction work because a huge shroud is now draped over much of the substructure for the purpose of containing the paint chippings and other such debris associated with a paint job of this magnitude.

Nevertheless, we appreciated the welcome that we received from some of the painters who, donned with hard hats and yellow shirts, poked their heads out, waved and shouted “hello!” as we passed underneath. We reciprocated by tooting the horn of the boat.

From what we could see, the girders, which formerly were not painted, are now being painted a grayish brown color with a paint which I assume is resistant to the salt and slush which comes off the bridge in the wintertime.

As you drive over the bridge now, you notice that much more of the south, currently blocked lanes have new, shiny sub-decking, and fresh concrete is starting to be poured gradually from each end toward the middle of the bridge. Water is being sprayed on the new concrete as it is laid to help cool and cure it. You also see rebar and forms being built for new railings.

My wife, who drives over the bridge a lot, recently remarked: “It looks like they are making great progress with the bridge right now.”

That is true, but we need to also remember that this is at least a three-year project. Once the south lanes are reconstructed and the traffic moved to that side of the bridge, then the whole process must start again on the other two lanes on the north side.

When that happens, traffic patterns will also change. There will be no exit on the westbound lane at Stow–you will have to go to the Stedman exit to get off. And, though the eastbound exit at Bemus will be reopened, the westbound entrance ramp there will be closed to allow work on the north side of the bridge to proceed.

When you restrict traffic from four lanes to two on an Interstate Highway bridge in order to rebuild it, this is what you have to expect.

There are a lot of moving parts in rebuilding a bridge, but one day–it will all be over and hopefully, the newly reconstructed bridge will outlast the old one. If not, my grandchildren, when they are my age, might live to see this process happen all over again!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.