The Charcoal Road Bridge is officially open after a summer’s worth of work and more than six years of planning.
The bridge opened Monday afternoon following a ribbon cutting ceremony by the town. Additionally, the 10-ton weight limit posted on the bridge has been lifted.
“It felt really good to have the work completed on the bridge,” said Select Board chair Sturdy Thomas, in an interview Wednesday morning. “This project was started by a completely different Select Board.”
Thomas said that Sterling Abram, who stepped down after three terms as a Selectman in 2015, stayed on board to help with the project.
Work was completed by Cold River Bridges, LLC, of Walpole, who bid the project for $892,365.50, which is lower than an engineer’s estimate of $980,000.
The bridge was built in 1976, but has been problematic for several years, due to the ten-ton weight limit being applied. The bridge was in desperate need of repair because the wing walls – the support structure for the bridge – had deteriorated. In 2010, voters approved $110,000 at Town Meeting for the design and engineering work to replace the 18-foot bridge.
At Town Meeting in 2015, voters approved to raise $1,243,855 to complete the construct of the bridge, 80-percent of which will be refunded by the state.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235.