The NHDOT gets a grade of "A" plus with getting their new inspection report on the internet in quick time. Remember though, I pushed them to do it. It wasn't purely self directed...
I have zero confidence this inspection was accurate. You can expect a mass causality event and body recovery at any moment.
Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridges land on state's red list after recent inspectionThe multi-grade...fair to poor...down grade downgrade is proof they have been falsifying these bridge inspections. Inspections like this can be grossly inaccurate. They can't see everything...some areas are totally covered by layers of rust and other critical areas are not inspectable.
By Meg McIntyre Sentinel Staff
17 min ago
HINSDALE — With a couple of years left before they’re scheduled to be replaced, the two bridges connecting the town to Brattleboro have been put on the state’s red list.
The downgrade comes after N.H. Department of Transportation
officials reclassified the bridges from fair to poor condition following a routine inspection last month that identified further deterioration of the nearly 100-year-old spans.
The state’s red list comprises bridges classified as being in poor or worse condition. Bridges on the list are inspected twice yearly to check for any rapid changes.
State highway officials previously classified the narrow bridges as functionally obsolete, which means they’re outdated, don’t meet current design standards or have height and weight restrictions.
The bridges, named after Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh, are Pennsylvania truss-style structures built in the 1920s and rehabilitated in 1988. They link Route 119 from Hinsdale to Brattleboro via Hinsdale Island, and are set to be replaced with a new bridge several hundred feet downstream, with construction scheduled to begin in 2019.
A project to replace the bridges has been included in the state’s 10-year transportation improvement plan since fiscal year 1994, with its start date being delayed several times. However, it was bumped completely from the 2013-22 plan because of lack of funding before being put back in the 2015-24 plan.
Manchester-based engineering firm Hoyle, Tanner and Associates Inc. completed the recent inspection over the course of five days in late June. Inspectors identified corrosion-related deterioration of both bridges’ trusses and floor system, the resulting report states.
Though both bridges are safe for vehicle and pedestrian traffic, they may require weight limit postings or structural steel repairs in the future, according to an email from the state transportation department’s bridge design team that accompanied the report’s release.
“The ongoing project for the replacement of these two bridges has been largely driven by bridge geometrics and highway obsolescence, however the downgraded condition signifies that the bridges, after nearly 100 years of service, are approaching the end of their expected service lives from a structural standpoint,” the email reads.
Construction on a replacement bridge is scheduled to begin in 2019, according to the state’s most recent 10-year transportation plan. The new bridge will stretch 1,782 feet across the Connecticut River. It will vary in width between 49 feet along the majority of the roadway and 53 feet at the Vermont-side intersection — the slight width increase will accommodate a turning lane where Route 119 intersects Route 142.
That intersection will be controlled with a traffic signal. The plans also call for a 6-foot-wide sidewalk on the bridge’s north side, with a few viewing platforms for pedestrians to take in views of the river.
The state transportation department plans to maintain the existing bridges for bicycle and pedestrian use, officials said at a public hearing in January. The department has applied for a TIGER grant to provide additional funds for the old bridges’ refurbishment, they said.
Michael Darcy, chairman of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, said the town is more focused on the construction of the replacement bridge than on the state of the existing bridges.
“It’s concerning in that we have to be aware of the safety of the bridges, but in terms of getting a new bridge or anything, we’ve already done that process,” he said. “So it doesn’t really have any immediate implications.”
After nearly 100 years, the town is excited to finally have a new bridge, he said.
“Maybe the red-listing of the current bridges will goose that ahead a little bit, and maybe there’ll be a little more effort to get the new bridge completed as quickly as they can,” Darcy said.
More information on the bridge replacement project is available at
www.nh.gov/dot/projects/hinsdalebrattleboro12210/.
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