By Angela Houle
EAGLE TIMES CORRESPONDENT
The town of Alstead is considering renting a temporary bridge to restore access to six Thayer Brook Road households that are cut off after a culvert washed out.
A proposal from Cold River Bridges to install a 60-foot, temporary bridge at a cost of $72,500 was discussed at an emergency Select Board meeting Wednesday.
The price includes three months of rental, transportation to the site, removal of the existing culvert and temporary abutments. After the first three months, the bridge would cost $5,000 per month. The town will be responsible materials such as gravel, stone fill, concrete blocks and jersey barriers, trucking, permits, engineering and testing.
The main objective is to restore access for the households, emergency vehicles and fuel trucks.
The first emergency meeting was called to discuss a proposal from Cold River Bridges aimed at resolving the issue of a washed-out culvert on Thayer Brook Road. The main objective was to restore access for six households, emergency vehicles, and fuel trucks.
Thayer Brook Road resident Julie Bacon, who also serves as the Alstead Town Clerk and Tax Collector, attended the meeting solely as a resident. Additional participants included Jimmy Hollar with Cold River Bridges and Mary Beth Purcell, director of claims at Primex, who joined the meeting by phone.
United in their opposition to ongoing rental costs, Select Board members debated the possibility of installing a culvert or purchasing a temporary bridge instead of renting. Concerns were raised about the town assuming liability for in-house engineering on a temporary bridge.
State policy requires emergency replacements to match or surpass the capacity of the damaged original structure.
Hollar told Select Board member Matthew Saxton that Cold River Bridges wouldn’t sell the proposed temporary bridge to the town, but would provide pricing information for a bridge that met the town’s requirements.
Mary Beth Purcell of Primex confirmed engineering oversight would be necessary if the town agreed to provide engineering for the temporary bridge.
The board also considered using an existing temporary bridge the town owns that is at a Ben Hill site, but it wasn’t known if the length was appropriate or if it would be possible to source an equivalent-or-better culvert due to heightened regional demand for such materials.
Despite the discussion, no decision was reached on the bridge.
The meeting was attended in-person by Select Board members Matthew Saxton and Gordon Kemp and remotely by member Joel McCarty. Staff members present included Office Administrator Mary Schoppmeyer and Road Agent Prescott Trafton.
The board was expected to meet on Thursday, but details were not available at presstime.
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