By Justin Roshak, Contributing Writer
HUDSON – The Hudson Select Board approved a contract Sept. 13, for engineering and construction oversight services on a bridge and culvert on Main Street that is currently in poor condition.
The contract will send $219,600 to Bayside Engineering, a Woburn-based firm.
A culvert under Main Street is classified as a small bridge by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. It crosses Danforth Brook on its way to Bruce’s Pond not far from Domino’s Pizza, according to Director of Public Works Eric Ryder.
“We have shut down parking spaces on the culvert or bridge itself. That was at the request of DOT and the Bridge inspector,” Ryder told the Select Board at its Sept. 13 meeting.
After passing under Main Street, the culvert continues under nearby private property. The conditions there are much better, Ryder said.
“It doesn’t look bad,” Ryder said.
Repairs will constitute a retrofit, not a full replacement.
“The poured beams are deteriorating, most likely due to road salt,” Ryder said. “The concrete is etching. Their intention is to go in and repair that.”
Repairs to the bridge would occur during times of low water flow, most likely in the summer. A road closure on sections of Houghton and South Street and a traffic detour will both be implemented.
The exact length of time for road closures has yet to be determined. But a bridge closure of at least three months minimum should be expected, Ryder said. He said traffic would still be permitted to reach businesses.
“We’re not sure what we’re going to find,” he noted of the work site.
“We won’t know until we really get into it,” Ryder later added.
The DPW has been searching for a funding mechanism to pay for repairs to the bridge for about two years. An application to the state’s small bridge funding program was unsuccessful last year. The town is still waiting on a decision on this year’s round of funding applications.
Ryder said that using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to offset the cost was also a possibility.
