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11/22/2017 07:00 AMAfter the town and the State Department of Transportation (DOT) identified the Saw Mill Road West River Bridge as needing replacement, the town and state have now settled necessary documents and on Nov. 6, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved an engineer for design services to move the project forward.
Town Engineer Jim Portley previously said the bridge was built in the early 1900s and the decking was last replaced in the 1960s. While the bridge is no immediate danger of collapse, Portley said the bridge is old and doesn’t meet all of the state standards.
“It is slowly deteriorating. The guardrails don’t meet any of the current safety standards, so its time has come,” he said. “It was built for a time before cars and trucks and it is just at that point where it should be replaced.”
The DOT revised safety standards for bridges following the Mianus River Bridge collapse in 1983, according to Portley. The Mianus River Bridge on I-95 collapsed when a large section of the bridge dropped out, sending cars and tractor-trailers into the river and killing three.
Portley explained that the state gives bridges ratings every two years and while this bridge does fit the category for bridge replacement.
“All structures over 20 feet get inspected by the state every two years,” he said. “The important bridges, the ones that take traffic every day, are all in pretty decent shape…We have systematically gone through and replaced bridges as we needed to.”
At the BOS meeting the board awarded the engineering design services to HAKS Engineers and authorized the first selectman to sign a engineering services agreement with the company. Portley said he has been in contact with the state and he is ready to proceed to the next step.
“We finally have authorization from the state to award a contract for design services,” he said. “We went through a process where the scope of work was defined with the state so that everybody was on the same page. The process is now complete so we got a letter from the state DOT allowing us to sign the contract with HAKS for the services…It is a long process, but it has come about and we need to replace this bridge.”
Portley said now is also the time to take advantage of funding available for this project. According to a press release from the town on Oct. 13, if the project is undertaken, design would likely occur in 2018 and construction in 2019. The cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $1.7 million, but the town has secured federal funding through the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act administered by the Federal Highway Administration and Connecticut DOT. Through this grant, the town would receive 80 percent reimbursement through federal aid and would have to cover the remaining 20 percent of the project. The town has identified the state’s Local Capital Improvements Projects fund to pay the town’s portion.
To replace this bridge, Portley said the best course of action would be to close the bridge completely and re-route traffic, something he said he hopes won’t be too big of an inconvenience because of Hubbard Road Bridge. Portley said the town urges residents with questions or comments to contact the town. Portley can be reached at 203-453-8037.
Now that the agreements have been signed and the project has been authorized, Portley said the town will proceed with the survey and design portion of the project. Once 30 percent of the project is designed, likely sometime in the spring, Portley said the town will hold a public meeting.