WOODSTOCK — The Mill Road bridge over the Ottauquechee River will stay closed to vehicles for at least another month while the town waits on prices for a temporary fix that may or may not work, Municipal Manager Eric Duffy said Friday.
The town closed the bridge Sept. 22 after a routine inspection by Vermont Emergency Management found cracks in several floor beams. In an Oct. 9 update to residents, Duffy said the cracks are at the ends of the beams. He called the bridge’s status “not great.”
The engineering firm VHB inspected the bridge Sept. 24 and sent the town a memo with possible repair options Oct. 5.
In the update, Duffy laid out three options. A temporary fix could reopen the bridge within three to six weeks. A longer-term repair would take up to six months, and a permanent fix would take longer than that.
The town is now waiting on contractor quotes for the temporary fix.
“We’re just waiting for VHB, which is the engineering firm, to get some quotes for what we hope could be a relatively quick temporary fix,” Duffy said in an interview Friday.
He said he hopes to have those quotes early next week. But Duffy cautioned that the fix may not be enough to reopen the bridge, and he said contractors are being asked to weigh in on that as part of their quotes.
“This is a potential temporary fix. It may not work,” Duffy said. “We may not go forward there if it’s not going to allow us to open up the bridge.”
If the fix does go ahead, the bridge would likely have a weight limit and be open only to some cars and trucks, Duffy said.
Duffy said he has also been talking with the state and Woodstock’s legislative delegation about grants to help pay for the work. The town has not released a cost estimate for any option. A 2020 estimate put the cost of rehabilitating the bridge at about $916,000, according to a Vermont Agency of Transportation inspection report.
The bridge sits next to Woodstock Union High School. Duffy said he hasn’t gotten any direct complaints about the closure.
“People have been curious. It is a well-used bridge, especially in its location right by the high school, and also connecting to the rest of Woodstock,” Duffy said. “But so far everyone has been very understanding and very patient, and we appreciate that from them.”
Drivers can use the Lincoln Bridge and College Hill Road instead.
The one-lane steel bridge was built in 1900, and it carried about 400 vehicles a day as of 2019. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.