City Reps Attend Composite Bridge Presentation

It's been about 18 months since resident Geoff Daly first urged the city to consider hybrid-composite beam bridge-building technology for the Bridge Street Parkway project.

Unlike traditional building materials, HCB won't rust, crack or suffer from the effects of natural or man-induced elements, including road salt.

Daly even helped shepherd the information to the city back in 2011 through John Hillman, founder of HC Bridge Co. Hillman developed HCB and has since launched a fast-growing company that is getting the attention of builders and engineers worldwide.

But as meetings continued on the parkway project in Nashua, there was little meaningful discussion over the composite option. 

In January, Daly again pressed the Board of Aldermen, and eventually got some support for at least taking a serious look at HCB as an alternative to steel and concrete.

On Monday, Daly attended a presentation at the Department of Transportation office in Concord on HCB, a meeting that he heard about Friday, and he says was a last-minute addition to the city calendar.

Afterward, Daly said the presentation was "one of the best" he's seen, because Hillman, a fellow engineer, explained the long-term feasibility in a way that other engineers could appreciate.

During a Q&A, Daly tried to get the room full of about three-dozen DOT engineers, including a delegation from Nashua's Public Works department, to ask questions, or comment on its feasibility for Nashua's Broad Street Parkway project, with little success.

One person in the back of the room said it would be hard to answer Daly's question, due to the amount of technical data presented, adding that he was just now hearing about HCB.

Daly informed the man that he had distributed information to NH DOT in October of 2011.

After the meeting, Daly said many of those in attendance did not understand that HCB is something quite different from composite fiberglass building materials used for decking. He was encouraged that, after the presentation, many of those in attendance lingered to ask more questions of Hillman.

Public Works Director Lisa Fauteux said the presentation was informative, and ultimately the city would be led by safety standards as prescribed by project engineers Fay, Spofford & Thorndike,

Bill Moore of FST was also in attendance. He concurred that it may be too little information too late for the Broad Street Parkway, but added that HCB might very well be an option for other city projects in the works.

"We have some constraints on the Broad Street Parkway, but I definitely see some value in the product," said Moore.

Alderman Barbara Pressly also attended the meeting. She said she hopes the city will continue to look at the value of HCB for its innovation and cost-saving over the lifetime of projects, like bridges, which often require pricey maintenance over time. 

"I think it's the way of the future," Pressly said.

Hillman said he was not surprised that the reception was initially lukewarm.

"I don't fault anybody in this room. I am the same way, as a practicing engineer. There's not a lot of incentives – there's almost negative incentives – to promote and embrace change. All you can do is interact with people and get more exposure," Hillman said.

Daly remains optimistic.

"I believe they city would like to at least take a look at the Manchester Street project and see if we might at least give seriously consideration to using HCB for that bridge," Daly said. "I'm not giving up on the Bridge Street Project, either. I'm pressing on."