Town to Go Through State Bridge Program for Teague Drive

The town of Salem will go through the State Aid Bridge program to fund the engineering costs to design a new bridge on Teague Drive.

The Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 on Monday to appropriate funds of up to $125,000 from the Roadway Capital Reserve Fund.

The culvert was closed indefinitely last week following recommendations from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Salem Engineering Department.

According to Salem Director of Engineering Robert Puff, Jr., the history of required permitting through the state is nine months, and sometimes it takes closer to a year.

The other option on the table was for the town to conduct the process itself, which comes without an 80 percent reimbursement from the state.

"Without the state process, we would largely conduct the same amount of due diligence, it's just that it's streamlined," said Puff. "We don't have to package it to the state to review in a formal form."

If the process is completed as fast as possible, Puff said the project could be put out to bid in April, after the town deliberative session.

The estimated engineering costs are $75,000 without going through the state. With reimbursement, the cost of going through the state is about $25,000.

The deteriorating bridge will see a cost of close to $700,000 to replace.

Puff also said that bids from contractors are most favorable in January and February, when a contractor is looking to line up their work for the year.

In the spring, Puff said that the contractor is bidding the work that he wants to do for a profit margin that he wants to take.

Selectman Stephen Campbell noted that work can't be done until voters approve the project, which is about nine months away.

Town Manager Keith Hickey said that based on past experiences with the State Aid Bridge program, there is an outside chance that the town wouldn't be abl to construct the bridge until 2015.

In an email to the town from NHDOT, they said that they believe that the work can be done in a schedule that the town is looking to meet.

Plans in Salem are to replace bridges on Town Farm Road and Shannon Road in 2014, with the initial plan having been to replace the Teague Drive culvert and Bluff Street Extension bridge in 2015.