At this week's meeting, Town Administrator Valerie Capels explained that
there are several problems with the bridge that impact its stability.
The sidewalk is cantilevered off the north side of the bridge and that
is causing the bridge to twist/list to the north.
COUNTERBALANCED
The sidewalk may need to be moved, supported differently or
counterbalanced. It was the issue of removing the sidewalk that
generated the most comments from those present and via email. Not a
single person spoke or emailed suggesting that the pedestrian access be
removed or placed inside the travel lane of the bridge.
Most spoke in favor of keeping the sidewalk and suggested
counterweighting the sidewalk, supporting it separately, or finding
another way to keep the external sidewalk. Other issues include the need
for some of the wooden decking planks and bolts to be replaced along
with some of the structural members.
There is a scour hole on the downstream side of the western abutment
which needs to be addressed, the roof (currently cedar shingles) may
need to be replaced or changed to keep snow loads from sticking and the
bridge needs to be repainted.
MANAGING TRAFFIC
Beyond the issues of what repairs are done, engineer Evan Detrick of
DuBois and King explained to the roomful of people with comments, there
are issues of timing the repair, how long the bridge will be closed,
where the work area will be staged and how traffic will be managed
during that time.
Public discussion comment focused on the need for maintaining pedestrian
access through the bridge and also on the importance of the
village/town icon. Neighbor Jane Goodwin suggested that the "no truck"
ban needs to be enforced and Myndy Woodruff, a former select board
member whose property adjoins the bridge, presented the board with a
hand-drawn illustrated list of repairs and issues he thinks need to be
addressed.
Woodruff suggested that the curb on the northwest approach be lowered or
removed allowing the wasted space on the river side to be used for
better abutment support. He suggested that any change to a metal roof
include a non-glare roof and asked that the town straighten up the bent
traffic signs at either end. He suggested a trash can at either end of
the bridge and improvements to the path leading down to the swim hole
near the bridge.
SLATE ROOFING
Others suggested fake slate roofing materials because snow slides off
easily and it is lightweight. Warren architect Ellen Strauss reminded
the group that the bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places
and that cedar may be the historically appropriate roofing material,
even though the bridge has had a metal roof at one point. Select board
member Paul Hartshorn suggested that a metal roof would keep people from
jumping off the roof of the bridge.
The issue of swimmers jumping off the roof of the bridge was discussed
in terms of wear and tear on the cedar shingles and some jokingly
suggested that a diving platform be built on the south side of the
bridge to create a counterweight for the cantilevered pedestrian walkway
on the north side.
Detrick explained that the specifics of what needed to be fixed and how
to best fix things - including conformance with historical preservation
standards - would be brought back before the select board by the end of
October. In terms of the sidewalk, he pointed out that removing it
might not be a possibility because the sidewalk has existed long enough
to have attained official historic status as well.
WEDDING/TOURIST INDUSTRY
Representatives of the wedding industry, present at the meeting, asked
that the select board and engineers take into consideration weddings and
other events scheduled during summer and fall that utilized the covered
bridge. Dori Ingalls, representing a marathon scheduled for The Valley
and through the covered bridge, asked the town to take the scheduling of
that race into consideration as well.
Waitsfield Fire Chief Delbert Palmer also asked for clarification on
whether the bridge would be completely closed and, if so, for how long.
Detrick said he could not promise any specific timeframe until the
analysis had been completed but said he hoped the work could be done in
anywhere from a "couple to a few weeks."
He also said it might be possible to have the bridge closed during the
week and open on the weekend. Darryl Forrest, who serves on the town's
municipal water project implementation task force, suggested that the
timing of the bridge be coordinated with the timing of the water project
- which will entail installing piping underground on Route 100 through
the village.
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