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20 Franklin County, Mass., bridges slated for $80 million in repair/replacement | Dump Truck Company

Google Earth screen shot of General Pierce Bridge in Greenfield, Mass.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) plans to spend $80 million to start or complete the repair of more than 20 bridge projects at different stages of design, construction, or nearing completion in Franklin County over the next several years, the Greenfield Recorder reports. The list of bridge projects includes the General Pierce Bridge, which connects the east side of Greenfield with Montague City, and the replacement of the Nash’s Mill Road bridge, which should be completed by the end of 2019, among others.

According to the news outlet, Patrick Marvin, communications officer with MassDOT, said the agency is working on a project to improve the condition of the General Pierce Bridge, which is expected to go out to bid in 2020 at an estimated cost of $18 million. Fire trucks were banned from using the bridge earlier in 2019, after a bridge inspection indicated the need for repairs, but smaller vehicles are still allowed to use it.

The 85-year-old Nash’s Mill Road bridge that crosses the Green River has been closed to motorists since October 2018 after it was determined to be functionally obsolete and structurally deficient and is being replaced at a cost of approximately $3 million. The new 105-foot steel beam bridge will be wider and include 10-foot driving lanes, 4-foot shoulders, and a 5-foot sidewalk on the south side.

The following bridges will also see repair work:

  • The $7.3 million McClelland Farm Road bridge project in Deerfield will replace the old bridge with a 45-foot-wide bridge with sidewalks on both sides. It will be completed in August 2020 at a cost of $7.3 million.
  • A 65-year-old bridge that crosses the Deerfield River in Buckland and Charlemont will be rehabilitated with steel repairs, a deck replacement, cleaning, and painting at an estimated cost of $9.2 million beginning in fall 2020.
  • A temporary bridge on West Oxbow Road over Wilder Brook in Charlemont will be replaced at a cost of $1.4 million to begin in spring 2020 and be completed in fall 2020.
  • The bridge over the Chickley River on Tower Road in Charlemont will be replaced at an estimated cost of $4.4 million with construction expected to begin in summer 2020.
  • A $1.5 million bridge replacement on East Oxbow Road over Oxbow Brook, which is currently weight restricted due to deterioration of the steel beams, is expected to go out to bid in 2022.
  • A $9.8 million bridge replacement over the North River on Route 112 in Colrain was just completed, and two other bridges over the North River on Route 112 will be preserved by sealing cracks in their decks in 2023.
  • A $4 million project to replace the bridge over Poland Brook in Conway will begin in 2023 or 2024.
  • A $1.7 million bridge replacement over West Branch Brook in Heath is in the design phase.
  • Rowe’s Cyrus Stage Road bridge over Potter Brook will be replaced, due to deterioration of the steel fascia beams, at an estimated cost $2 million and will go out to bid in early 2022.
  • The Bardswell’s Ferry Road bridge over Dragon Brook in Shelburne is being replaced at an estimated cost of $1.6 million and should be completed in November 2019.
  • A $2 million project to replace a bridge over Shattuck Brook in Bernardston is in the design phase and will go out to bid in March 2020.
  • A Route 116 bridge over the Mill River in Deerfield that is expected to cost $2.3 million to replace is in the early design phase.
  • Bridge preservation on Upper Road over the Deerfield River is in the design phase and is estimated to cost $6.5 million.
  • The Church Street bridge over Keyup Brook in Erving, which is in the early design phase, will be replaced at an estimated cost of $1.8 million.
  • The estimated $1.1 million replacement of Millers Road bridge in Leverett, which crosses over Roaring Brook, is in the design stage and expected to go out to bid in 2022.
  • Birnam Road bridge over Mill Brook in Northfield will be replaced at an estimated cost of $2.5 million. It is in the early design phase.
  • Orange’s Holtshire Road bridge over the Millers River is under construction and expected to be completed in fall 2020. The project will cost $4.6 million.
  • Another bridge replacement on Logan Road over the Tully River is in the design phase with an estimated cost of $1.3 million.