Does the span of the bridge determine ownership?

Ownership is not specific to the length of the bridge. Usually, the road owner is responsible for the bridges and culverts on their road. There are situations where the County has the authority to take ownership, but it is not a requirement. There are other situations where the county turns the ownership of the bridge back to the road owner. To determine if the county has accepted ownership of a specific bridge, you should contact the County.

 

The length of a crossing defines whether it is a bridge or not. Highway Law Section 230(1):

§  230. Definitions. As used in this article the following terms shall have the following meanings:

  1. "Bridge" means a structure including supports erected over a depression or an obstruction such as water, highway, or railway, having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other moving loads and having an opening measured along the center of the track or roadway of more than twenty feet between under croppings of abutments or spring lines or arches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple boxes and may include multiple pipes where the clear distance between openings is less than half of the smaller contiguous opening. The term bridge, as defined in this section, shall also include the approaches.

 

  • A crossing of less than 20 feet is typically considered a culvert.
  • Under Village Law Section 6-604, the Town Superintendent of highways has control of and is responsible for repair, maintenance, and construction at town expense of all bridges in villages which were not under village control as of February 17, 1909.
  • Village Law 6-606 allows the Town Superintendent of Highways the authority to enter into an agreement with the village to construct or repair a bridge in the village at joint expense, at an agreed proportion of costs between the village and town, subject to a village referendum.

Resources

To access the Law of NY - http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/lawssrch.cgi?NVLWO

Select ‘Laws’ and then again in the drop down. This will give you access to the Laws of NYS.