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Alpine Construction, of Schylerville, New York, began work on Montgomery's Creamery Bridge on West Hill in mid September. The Contract completion date is July 31, 2009. The winning bid was $598,632.30.
      Built in 1883 by Savanna and Sheldon Jewett, the 59-foot Town truss bridge spans the West Hill Brook above a waterfall.
      When the bridge was built, West Hill was a busy place. Besides the Jewett family farm and dimension lumber mill, there were forty-nine active farms. A creamery stood just east of the bridge, and there was a furniture factory in the lower West Hill Brook gorge
      Structural problems forced closure of the bridge in the summer of 1994. An inspection team recommended interim rehabilitation to avoid collapse of the structure under its own weight and snow loading. The bridge was closed with concrete barriers. Over time water washing down into the bridge from the east end contributed to the rotting of the floor and floor timbers.
      There are two roads leaving the south side of Route 118 west of Montgomery Village, one at each end of a cement bridge. One is named West Hill Road and the other is Hill West Road—perhaps some Yankee humor is at work here. Creamery Bridge Road joins both roads. However, the east approach (Hill West Road end) has been impassable due to wash-out.

The Creamery bridge has been lifted onto steel scaffolding to enable rehabilitation of the floor system and lower chords.

The scaffolding also allows access to the bridge abutments for repairs to be done there.

The roof system is typical of all of the bridges built by the Jewetts—braced uprights supporting a massive roof-tree. Notice the new purlins installed under the re-roofing project funded in 2001.

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