Green River Bridge Reopened - Concerns Remain

 

Guilford, VT October 15, 2014 - The Green River covered bridge has reopened after repairs have been completed to the wing walls and abutments. Thanks to good weather and hard work by the contractor, the project was completed twelve days ahead of schedule at a final cost of $289,000.

The project, which began in July, was orignally started to repair the wing walls. A contract of $153,500 was given to Welch Masonary & Zaluzny Excavating for the work. Once the work was started there were problems discovered with the abutments. The additional work required to repair the abutments added $135,500 to the cost of the project and extended the opening date to October 22. Most of the money for the wing wall repairs came from grants. The funds for the abutment work came from the town.

In spite of the good news of the bridge reopening, there are still concerns about the bridge. The weight limit for the bridge has been lowered from 8 tons to 4 tons which will limit the traffic that can use the bridge. The lower weight limit will remain in place until the deck replacement can be funded. Emergency vehicles will be able to use the bridge according to Vermont law.

The selectboard is persuing future options for the bridge. The engineering firm of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates presented the selectboard with possible options for the bridge. The options range from continuing with maintenance to load limit upgrades. The price tag for those options range from $315,000 to $2.5 million. Another option presented was a bypass route which would cost $1.7 million.

The selectboard will spend some time considering the options along with gathering input from the public.

The Green River bridge on Jacksonville Stage Road was built in 1870 to cross the Green River by Marcus Worden. The 104 foot span was built using a plank-lattice truss.

The following web link from the Brattleboro Reformer contain the full story: Guilford bridge reopens, but some decisions remain.