The Hampden Town Council on Monday heard three options to deal with an aging bridge that is the only way to reach six homes. None of them will cost less than $1 million.
The Manning Mill Road bridge has deteriorated to the point that it cannot support more weight than an average pickup truck, leading town officials to search for quick fixes so residents can receive heating fuel this winter.
The options, presented by bridge engineer Ben Toothaker, include clearing a path and building a 4,700-foot gravel road, constructing a larger, pre-fabricated bridge at the same location, or replacing the current steel and making the driving surface a metal grid. The proposals are estimated to cost $1.3, $1.5 and $1.4 million, respectively.
Engineering, fuel and risk costs could add to the price of the proposals, possibly up to $500,000, but it’s currently hard to determine those exact costs, Toothaker said. The estimate for an access road does not include paving, which could cost around $262,000, Hampden Public Works Director Jonathan Clements said.
All proposals are “intended to be short-term, low cost to the town, knowing that there is significant work coming to this structure one way or another,” Toothaker said.
Town councilors said at multiple points that they were taking in the information at the same time as the Manning Mill Road residents were and “trying to make sure that we do this right,” Councilor Dennis Marble said. No action was taken at Monday’s council workshop.
Toothaker previously spoke with Hampden staff about replacing the bridge deck in 2021, he said. Since then, the bridge has worn and has a two foot by six inch section that doesn’t have any material, Toothaker said. That deterioration has made it so a deck replacement isn’t possible.
The two proposed bridge repair solutions have similar costs but different outcomes.
A prefabricated bridge from Acrow Bridge, a company that builds modular bridges, would create a slightly larger span over the Souadabscook Stream and the current bridge would be demolished, Toothaker said.
Access to the six homes would need to be cut off for approximately 11 days of work, Toothaker said.
Replacing the steel on the current structure, a slightly less expensive option, would shut off access to the homes for a slightly longer period of time, Toothaker said.
Both options come with uncertain costs and timetables because the steel needed for the projects are currently taking months longer to be delivered than expected, Toothaker said. Manufacturers have blamed the delays on data center construction across the country, he said.
There is also “a lot unknown” about the abutments and pier currently used. It’s unclear if the structures, which were constructed of fieldstone before 1930, would be able to hold the weight of either option, Toothaker said.
Hampden may also struggle to find a company to bid on either project. The stream bank, limited access to just one side of the bridge due to the weight limit and the specialization needed for the proposal may mean just one company bids, Toothaker said.
“I believe we advertised for less challenging work a few years ago and got no bids back,” Toothaker said. “In the grand scheme of projects that are available within the state at any given time, it’s a smaller job with a lot of risk.”
If the town were to decide on one of these options and no bids were to be submitted, any solution would be further delayed, Councilor Eric Jarvi said.
Building an access road, which is the cheapest option, would connect Manning Mill Road to Emerson Mill Road, but this proposal also comes with possible issues. Unknown wetlands could change the estimated cost and rising asphalt prices could make paving more expensive in the future, Toothaker said.
Clearing for the road could begin this fall or winter and be completed in four or five weeks, but 14 to 16 additional weeks would be needed to finish the road, Toothaker said. Once finished, the access road could later be paved and the Manning Mill Road bridge could be converted to a walking bridge, Toothaker said.
Hampden town councilors did not say when the next action on the bridge will be taken before adjourning Monday evening.