MORIAH — State Department of Transportation Acting Commissioner Stan Gee stood before hundreds of angry and upset people Wednesday night to say that repairs to the Champlain Bridge won't start for two weeks and the bridge won't reopen before spring or summer.

His revelation seemed to incense some of the 300 people who turned out for a public informational meeting at Moriah Central School.

Gee tried to reassure them that New York and Vermont, which share ownership of the bridge, will do everything they can to get people across Lake Champlain in the meantime.

"(We) have made this our top transportation priority. We are trying to alleviate the hardship this has caused."

One business owner experiencing that hardship is Norman St. Pierre, who owns Norm's Bait and Tackle on the Bridge Road in Crown Point.

"I live on the road to nowhere now. It's just me and my dog. It stinks. I'm not going down because of this s—-."

A study showed more than 3,000 people used the bridge daily to get to jobs, medical appointments and other activities in the two states.

The bridge was closed abruptly Oct. 16 after an inspection showed severe erosion of pillar No. 5 below the water line.

DOT Chief Engineer Robert Dennison said the erosion was 18 inches deep.

"We discovered a dramatic and steep deterioration in the concrete that resulted in the decision that keeping this bridge open was too risky."

He said the concrete was not steel reinforced, and had been filled with mine tailings from Moriah's then-operational iron mines. The pier erosion had been rapid, he said, since in 2005 an inspection showed it was only five inches deep.

"We have a preliminary repair scheme on two of the piers," Dennison said. "The earliest I see repairs is spring/summer."

The repairs will surround the piers with steel mesh, then encapsulate the steel with new concrete. The bridge's deck bearings will also be replaced, allowing it to expand and contract to meet specifications.

Dennison said installation of a temporary bridge is being considered for Chipman's Point three miles south of the Ticonderoga Ferry landing, where a ferry once operated.

"There are boring rigs out there taking core samples" of the lake bottom, he said, to test the feasibility of that location.

Many at the meeting said a ferry or bridge near the site of the present bridge is what's needed. But Dennison said a ferry next to the existing bridge would be endangered if the bridge collapsed. He said sensors are being installed on the bridge to warn work crews if it starts to move.

Bridport, Vt., resident Darwin Pratt came over to ask for consideration of the Village Pier in Port Henry, where barges once landed, as a ferry landing.

"A Port Henry ferry needs to be located. We want that corridor to be opened."

Many workers say they could be losing their jobs, especially those that work second or third shift after the ferries have stopped running. The only alternative then is an 82-mile detour through Whitehall on Route 4.

The Essex-Charlotte, Vt., and Ticonderoga ferries are now free, with the states picking up the tab, and the Basin Harbor, Vt., to Westport pedestrian ferry that started Monday is also expected to go free.

Gee said the ferries will be free until the crisis is resolved. Numerous public officials and state agency representatives were at the meeting Wednesday to offer help and talk with residents.

Moriah resident Thistle Carson said she works in Vermont and has a small child at home.

"It now takes me an hour and a half to get to work, an hour and a half to get home. I'm grateful you have found the money to pay for us to get there, otherwise people would be losing jobs."

Her voice breaking, Carson said she felt the DOT was guilty of gross negligence for allowing the bridge to deteriorate this far.

"You can do this (fix the bridge) and you can do it now."

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com