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The historic Hudson-Athens Lighthouse has sustained significantly more damage than initially reported after being struck by a barge last April, according to a newly released engineering assessment.
A report by Troy-based Proper & O'Leary Engineering reveals that the 19th-century beacon's foundation suffered extensive damage when it was hit by one or more barges being pushed by a Carver Companies tugboat on April 29, 2025. The collision destroyed the lighthouse's dock and exterior staircase, but the report shows the impact also pushed in and rotated stones in the base, and widened existing cracks in the foundation.
Repairs could cost between $1.9 million and $3.6 million, according to the engineering assessment commissioned by the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society, which owns the structure.
The report includes previously unreported details about the crash, noting that the tugboat, named Erin Elizabeth, slowed down and moved toward the Hudson River's east bank to allow another vessel to pass when the current shifted the tugboat. While "trying to maintain control," the tugboat and its eight barges collided with the lighthouse.
The lighthouse, completed in 1874, was already facing serious structural issues before the collision. The foundation, originally consisting of 200 wood pilings driven 50 feet into the riverbed, has been deteriorating as water displacement from large ships has eroded the surrounding earth and exposed the pilings to water damage.
"It is anticipated that the movement of the lighthouse structure is predominantly due to the weakening of these joints," the report states, referring to the mortar joints connecting the base's stones that were "severely diminished" after the impact.
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered Historic Places" list in May 2024, just before the collision occurred. The preservation society had already been working on plans to construct a "curtain wall" around the base of the lighthouse to protect it from further deterioration.
In December 2024, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced the lighthouse would be part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Preservation Program, providing a potential source of federal funding for the needed repairs.
After the collision, Carver Companies suspended the Erin Elizabeth pending an investigation. The company also provided a temporary replacement dock, which was constructed and donated by Keith Flinton of KTF Dock Worx.
"We are still hopeful that Carver will be good partners by living up to their early commitment to repair all the damage done," said Van Calhoun, Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Restoration Committee Chair, in a statement.
The lighthouse continues to serve as an active navigational aid for river traffic, warning ships of Middle Ground Flats. It is one of seven remaining lighthouses on the Hudson River and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.