May of this year, the Chenango bridge was closed for safety reasons. The underside of the New Hartford end of the bridge was eroding, beams from underneath beginning to show from the wear.
"If we had anymore rain events and we get flooding conditions, that would wash more of it away so for safety reasons, the bridge was closed”, New Hartford’s Highway Superintendent Richard Sherman told local media. Also stating that there wasn’t any protection on their side, and that the aim was to make their end identical to the north end, which had large rocks nailed and pinned in place to prevent erosion and control flooding damage. According to Sherman, the DEC wants the project done by the end of September.