This note is addressed to Waitsfield residents and for that matter all residents of the Mad River Valley. I am not a Waitsfield taxpayer but do travel our local Valley roads from time to time.
There has been a fair amount of discussion regarding replacement of the deteriorating Meadow Road single lane steel and concrete bridge in Waitsfield with a new all wooden covered bridge as I understand it. While this seems like a novel and charming idea, I fail to see the practicality of it or it’s long lasting, or maybe not so long-lasting durability. In reality, the covered bridges that endure throughout our state, and New England for that matter, were originally designed and erected in horse and buggy days of long ago before steel and concrete were readily available. Horses and buggies, I suspect, are considerably lighter than our modern day large heavy trucks carrying concrete, lumber, garbage, gravel, large farm implements and myriad other hefty items which exist in our current world. Also, I’m fairly confident that the amount of daily traffic on our roads has multiplied exponentially from the days of the horse and buggy.
We need only look at the current state of the Waitsfield Village covered bridge to see one shortcoming of a covered bridge. I believe it is currently posted for only a 6000-pound weight limit due to deterioration of the bridge’s structural members. An average modern day heavy duty pickup truck weighs in the vicinity of 7000-pounds before anything is loaded in the bed of the truck or a full complement of passengers is added. I will not be driving my pickup through that bridge anytime soon! I have not heard of any resolution to the repairs being contemplated for this bridge. I’d have to believe those repairs would involve closure of the bridge for several months causing considerable inconvenience to residents who drive through that bridge on a frequent or daily basis. It is a well-documented fact that wood deteriorates pretty readily when exposed to the elements on a regular basis and this is further exacerbated when vehicles travelling over a wooden covered bridge are dripping of rainwater, salt (with a brine mixture added) and melting snow.
As a veteran of many years (55-60 years so far) of being in the residential construction field, I have witnessed countless times what happens to wood when it gets wet (or in some cases saturated) on an intermittent basis.The results are not good, but I will say it has provided me with a good bit of job security over the years.
The other thing I would hasten to point out is that of the visibility entering or exiting a covered bridge is greatly reduced for what should be obvious reasons.In the case of the Meadow Road bridge, it is somewhat unique by virtue of the fact that there is a Y intersection immediately at the northerly end of it with rather sharp bends in either direction, making the lack of visibility in either direction, entering or exiting to or from the bridge quite noticeable. As far as I know, modern day cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. travel at a considerably higher speed than horses and buggies of the era for which covered bridges were originally designed.
Lastly, I would suggest, if you really want to have a covered bridge, at the very least the Waitsfield townspeople and taxpayers should consider something similar to the covered bridge at the entrance to The Battleground townhouses which is a steel bridge with a concrete deck and wooden structure built on top of it. This was originally built in 1974 and to my knowledge has required a bare minimum of maintenance since then, a period of some 52 years. This bridge is exposed to travel by fuel delivery trucks, occasional random delivery trucks, and garbage trucks on a regular basis.
This note is not posted in anger by any means but is provided as a means of speaking my piece and to advise some unsuspecting residents of the reality of a potential situation relating to the new wooden covered bridge being contemplated for Meadow Road.
Clark lives in Fayston.
