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Drivers travel over the Dry Bridge on Route 12A in West Lebanon, N..H., re-opened by the city on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 after a month-long closure. An engineer confirmed its structural safety following temporary structural reinforcement work. (Valley News – James M. Patterson) -
Travis Morcom, of White River Junction, left, walks to work at Lui Lui restaurant over the Dry Bridge in West Lebanon, N..H., on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. The Bridge was closed for a month while temporary shoring of the structure was done and inspected by an engineer. “I wonder if they parked a train under it tight to keep it up,” said Morcom, who questioned whether the bridge is safe for heavy vehicles. (Valley News – James M. Patterson)
LEBANON — The so-called Dry Bridge connecting Main Street in West Lebanon to Route 12A reopened midday Wednesday after a month-long emergency closure.
Construction crews have completed temporary reinforcement work on the bridge and a professional bridge engineer has confirmed its structural safety, the city reported on its website Wednesday morning.
The bridge that usually serves 10,000 vehicles a day was closed to vehicular traffic March 6 when the results of an earlier inspection revealed that it needed to be structurally reinforced to continue to safely support vehicles. The repair work was delayed by an engineering review and approval from New England Central Railroad, which owns the tracks under the bridge.
Between March 6 and the bridge’s reopening on Wednesday, vehicles were rerouted on 2-mile-long detours along Interstate 89 or Glen Road in Lebanon.
The bridge has been slated for long-term repair for decades and the most recent plan has the renovation work expected to go out to bid this fall.