Council Approves $54K for Study to Replace Red Listed Bridge

A small bridge on McGaw Bridge Road is getting a closer look after the town received a letter from the state saying it is need of replacing sooner rather than later.

The Merrimack Town Council on Thursday voted to approve the withdrawal of up to $54,525 from the Road Infrastructure capital reserve fund for an engineering study for the replacement of the 23-foot long bridge.

Kyle Fox, deputy director of the Department of Public Works, told the council on Thursday the town received a letter from the state following the latest inspection of the bridge, which is on the state's red list for bridges on need of repairs, saying it's likely in the near future the town would see a further downgrading of weight limit or possibly recommended road closure from the state.

The state cannot force a town to close a bridge, but generally, when the New Hampshire Department of Transportation recommends a bridge be closed for safety reasons, towns comply.

The current 20,000-pound weight limit is actually a downgrading of what it used to be, Fox said. It has been on the state's red list since 2000.

“Being on the red list does not make (it) a dangerous bridge,” Fox said. “It means they're in need of watching.”

McGaw Bridge Road connects Wire Road at the intersection with Hillside Terrace to Daniel Webster Highway beside the Dunkin' Donuts next to the Merrimack Post Office. The road sees an estimated 1,200 cars a day.

According to the letter from the state, "there is severe undermining of the east abutment footing" and "there are areas of undermining at the west abutment and southwest wingwall." Additionally, "the superstructure and deck of this structure are in poor condition," the letter says.

The McGaw Bridge Road bridge was slated for replacement by the state a few years ago, Fox said, but the town opted to replace the Turkey Hill Road bridge, and then swapped it again for the two bridges on Wire and Bedford roads due to the amount of traffic over those bridges. All three of those bridges were also on the red list.

Like the other three, the McGaw bridge is eligible for 80 percent reimbursement from the state's bridge aid program. With the bridge aid program, the town fronts the money for the full project, but the state reimburses 80 percent. 

Fox said the problem is there is no money in the program that allows the state to move the bridge up from its spot in line to be replaced in 2017. That said, if the town does an engineering study and draws up a state-approved plan for the bridge, and money unexpectedly becomes available, being prepared to move on a replacement immediately would help Merrimack capitalize on unexpected funds.

Fox said the state will reimburse the engineering study now, not in 2017, which means the town will really only be responsible for $10,895 of it.

Fox said there is no reason for anyone to be immediately concerned about the bridge failing. If that were a major concern, the state would have already recommended closure. It would take serious flood waters to damage the bridge further, he said.

“If we had flood waters like back in '06-'07, we'd be on the phone (with the state) right away,” Fox said.

The first step, approval from the state regarding scope of work proposed and a fee schedule for the engineering project, was given to the town by the state in the middle of February. With the $54,525, the town will be able to proceed with Quantum Construction Consultants, the company they've worked with on the most recent bridge replacement projects.

“They are very competitive, very conscientious,” Fox said of Quantum. “I get no sense that they would gouge the community in any way.”

Fox said the town should have faith in the bridge replacements being made that there won't be a need for further replacements in the next 75 to 100 years. If the bridges that had been built over Bedford Road and Wire Road back in the '80s had been engineered the way Quantum does, there would've been no need to replace those bridges right now. McGaw bridge was built in 1940.

The Wire Road bridge over Baboosic Brook is coming along on schedule and is expected to be completed in the spring.

Finance director Paul Micali said there is plenty of money in the reserve fund to do the engineering study now, especially because Fox, as a certified bridge inspector, has saved the town about $30,000 in inspection fees on the latest bridge projects.

“We have to up front the $54,000, but when everything is said and done, when everything is washed out in the wash, we'll only spending $10,000, so the $30,000 that he's definitely saving on Wire Road will definitely cover the $10,000,” Micali said.

The town council voted unanimously to withdraw the money for the study.

“This is why we have guys like Kyle Fox serve the town of Merrimack,” Councilor Bill Boyd said. “He certainly needs to be commended for the work he's done with other projects. Kyle has been very influential with the other two projects we talked about tonight and because of it were able to move ahead with this particular study.”