New bridge in works for Chester

By TORY DENIS
[email protected]
CHESTER, Vt. — Popple Dungeon Road will soon have a new bridge over the south branch of the Williams River. 

The bridge, expected to last 75 to 100 years, is scheduled to be built in the summer of 2019 to replace a failing 11-foot elliptical culvert in a residential area about 3 miles from the intersection of Grafton and Popple Dungeon roads.

Members of the Chester Selectboard agreed after discussion at a public meeting on April 18 that of three bridge replacement options, what they referred to as Option C — a cast-in-place concrete slab “superstructure” replacement bridge supported by steel piles, and with a lifespan of up to 100 years — would be the best alternative. 

That option will allow traffic to continue to use the full extent of the road and will also enable 911 and other emergency responders to have access to the homes on the far side of the river, a concern for some homeowners who spoke at a December public hearing on the project.  

At a meeting in December 2017, approximately a dozen Chester citizens showed up to hear proposed plans and voice concerns regarding the culvert replacement — and the possibility of a 15-mile, 30-minute detour — scheduled for Popple Dungeon Road.

A few citizens and members of the selectboard said at that time that such a long a detour, if 24-hour construction was in place, would cause a delay in response time for emergency responders. Part of their concern was that a house on fire might burn to the ground if a detour was in place.

The town’s grant application was the result of a failing, eroded culvert over the Williams River on Popple Dungeon Road. The culvert has been deteriorating over time due to several floodings and high water in the springs, and a temporary bridge had been erected in that spot to allow travelers to pass over an elevated, temporary one-lane bridge over the culvert.

Jason Keener, a project manager, and project engineer Aaron Guyette, both with the South Burlington-based VHB, an engineering, planning and design firm, were in Chester last week for the second of two public hearing to gather input on the upcoming construction.  

Other options had called for differing amounts of time to complete the work, and the firm had looked into the pros and cons of installing a temporary bridge during construction versus temporarily closing the site to all traffic.

VHB recommended the town go with Option D, an accelerated 24-foot-wide bridge with six-week construction time and a standard precast concrete slab superstructure bridge supported by steel piles, according to the April 2018 draft report from VHB.

This option would also have required the use of a crane to replace the bridge, and would have required round-the-clock construction work on Popple Dungeon Road.

The selectboard discussed that option. Selectboard member Lee Gustafson questioned that option, due to the road leading to the work site. Popple Dungeon Road is several miles of winding, curvy road running alongside and often close to moving water, with steep banks in many spots that may make transporting a 40-foot-long section of bridge difficult.

If an emergency forces the closure of Route 11, Popple Dungeon Road becomes the alternate route, another issue the selectboard discussed. If the town was to go with the accelerated bridge program presented in Option D, construction would have taken place 24 hours a day. With an accelerated bridge or culvert, parts are built off-site and brought in.

The selectboard also discussed the impact to the wetland that would accompany a temporary bridge, part of the Option C plan.

Environmental impacts and rights-of-way needs will be further investigated and defined during the design phase of the project, according to VHB.

Guyette said that wetlands would not be a concern because they are low-grade and the disturbance would be temporary.

The board concluded that the Option C bridge would be preferred, since it would not be comfortable with the more lengthy road closure that would have come with Option D.

The work will be funded with the help of the federal grant. In 2016, the town of Chester applied for $300,000 in grant funding, which was approved with a $135,000 local match to replace the heavily damaged culvert.  

The total project cost was estimated at $400,000 at the time of grant application, including for preliminary engineering, construction, construction engineering and municipal project management costs.  

Keener has been working with town clerk and grant-writer Julie Hance to develop alternative solutions for the bridge construction. The representatives will continue to work with Hance on the possibility of combining the two options, they said.

Because the scope of the current proposed bridge project will likely be larger than originally estimated, Hance said that the town will seek additional funding.

Keener said at the meeting last week that VHB will finalize the alternatives report, and will look for a written opinion from the selectboard.

The firm will then draw up plans, and expects the project to go out to bid this winter, by approximately October 2018, with construction planned for summer 2019.