By STEPHEN SEITZ
Special to the Eagle Times
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — The Depot Street bridge is deteriorating, and the state Agency of Transportation came to a special meeting held by Rockingham’s board of selectmen last Tuesday to discuss what to do about it.
Laura Stone, the proposed project’s scoping engineer, said the current bridge at Canal and Depot streets badly needs attention.
“The culvert is rated as structurally poor,” she said, “and there’s significant deterioration along the water line. We also have hazardous-waste-contaminated soils.”
The current bridge was constructed in 1909 and features a 112-foot concrete arch, considered to be historic.
Stone offered five alternatives to address the situation, including doing nothing.
“We wouldn’t recommend that [doing nothing] just because of the existing condition of the bridge,” she said.
The other four she discussed were: closing the bridge permanently to all but pedestrian traffic and rehabilitate the arch; rehabilitate the arch and detour traffic; replace the bridge at its current site with a new reinforced concrete arch; and a new steel beam bridge near the current one.
Of those, Stone recommended replacing the current bridge at its present location, designed to last 75 years.
Selectman Stefan Golec noted the difficulty larger vehicles have navigating a sharp 90-degree turn.
“I’d be looking to angle it off alignment, or a new bridge alongside the railroad bridge,” he said.
Stone told the board that if the hazardous waste had to be cleaned up, the town would bear the cost.
According to the draft minutes, “Stone stated that currently the cost for replacement is $3,443,049 in the year 2023, $172,000 would be the town’s 5-percent portion, which does not include hazardous waste remediation. Stone noted that Alternative #4 has not been approved by the state and if the board chose this alternative, they would have to lobby the state for approval.”
The board took no immediate action.
The meeting was videotaped by FACT8, the local public access channel. Those interested in the full meeting can check the local listings for rebroadcast, or watch it anytime at the FACT8 Web site, www.fact8.com.
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