CANAAN — The main road leading to Cardigan Mountain State Park could be closed for weeks as crews repair a bridge that was heavily damaged in Friday’s storm.
The bridge, which carried Cardigan Mountain Road over Orange Brook, was washed out and clogged with debris after more than four inches fell on Orange and Canaan.
It will likely be “a couple of weeks” before fixes are complete and visitors are allowed up the road, said Doug King, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s District 2 engineer.
Portions of the road, which also leads to the Orange Town House and residential neighborhoods, were open to local traffic on Tuesday.
However, bridge work will limit access to the state park, a popular Upper Valley hiking destination. The state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources recommends people still wanting to visit the mountain travel via Burnt Hill Road in Orange, which is accessible from Route 4 in East Grafton.
Access to trails also is available through the Lakes Region. People can park at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Cardigan Lodge in Alexandria before climbing up the mountain’s east side, according to AMC spokeswoman Nina Paus-Weiler.
Meanwhile, backhoes and trucks dotted the area around Cardigan Mountain Road on Tuesday, filling in portions of damaged roadway and replacing pipes.
“The storm caused a lot of damage in town,” said Canaan Town Administrator Mike Samson. “I’m going to guess that we had at least 10 to 15 miles of road that was seriously damaged.”
The worst damage was focused around Canaan’s Transfer Station Road and the nearby Canaan Motor Club, which both saw extensive flooding from Orange Brook, Samson said.
First responders also were called to rescue a family from nearby Jerusalem Road.
The transfer station was closed over the weekend but reopened on Tuesday. Events on the Motor Club’s website were listed as “canceled” through mid-October.
The town declared a municipal emergency on Friday, which brought 15 trucks from Lebanon, Hanover, Enfield and Claremont to help restore roads.
They were joined by about 50 DOT trucks and 17 Canaan-owned vehicles responding to the floods.
Together, the crews brought about 2,700 cubic feet of rock and gravel to Canaan over the course of 12 hours on Saturday, Samson said.
He estimates the storm caused about $300,000 worth of damage to roads and another $200,000 to a bridge leading to the transfer station. He’s hoping the federal government will front 75% of those costs.
“The rest of the area stayed flood free,” Samson said, adding basements in Canaan Village saw some water but were otherwise spared from extreme flood conditions seen in past incidents.
Orange also was “making good progress” to repair roads on Tuesday, said Scott Sanborn, the town’s road agent.
Crews were able to reconnect stranded residents to town roads Monday evening, he said. However, the overall damage could top $500,000.
“We’re just taking care of business,” Sanborn said, adding many contractors and road crews worked around the clock to implement temporary repairs.
Friday’s rain, which dumped between 3.97 and 6.69 inches in three to four hours, also caused flooding in the New Hampshire towns of Plymouth, Hebron, Groton and Rumney.
The incident prompted Gov. Chris Sununu to tour the region on Friday afternoon with state emergency officials.
King, the DOT engineer, said his crews were also busy making repairs to roads in North Groton, which saw significant damage as well.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.