There’s a story here.
John Boyd Thacher State Park is located in the Berne area of the Helderbergs, Albany County. If you live in the Capital Region, you know this park. It is a wonderful place. The bridge in the photo was built in the early 2000s as a solution to a flooding problem.
This location is along State Route 157 between the entrance to the overlook and the Glen Doone picnic area. As I recall, there was some issue of flooding on account of a stream that runs through the area in the photo. I guess you might call it a “water management problem” rather that flooding. Anyway, the solution was to build the bridge you see on the right.
The bridge was actually very nice and quite scenic. It was a perfect spot for photographs. As you might guess, I managed to snap quite a few, and example you see here.
After being away from the park for a number of months, I drove on up to take a few pictures. Much to my surprise, the bridge was gone! It was there for a very short time, I don’t recall exactly, maybe a year or two or three. Anyway, my notes say that this photo was taken in 2004, so the bridge was gone sometime after that. It has been replaced with a path and a culvert. That’s perfectly fine, but it is not a photogenic as the bridge.
Anyway, if you get the chance, be sure to stop up at Thacher Park and explore around. The bridge may be gone, but all the views are still there.