Vermont has recently been awarded a $25.8 million federal grant, made through the USDOT’s Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, to replace the aging Readsboro Bridge over the Deerfield River in Bennington County, a critical link for the Readsboro community. The project, set to begin next month, will also involve widening road shoulders and creating a walkway. With the federal funds offsetting costs for the replacement project, Vermont can redirect over $25 million to other infrastructure projects statewide.
VTDigger further reported:
Jonathan Griffin, the state transportation agency’s project manager, said Vermont had already set aside over $33 million of funding for the Readsboro Bridge, built in 1954, because it is in critical need of repair, with a poor deck and eroding steel structure.
“The condition of the bridge was definitely the driving force behind the need for prioritizing this one as a project. The old bridge had served its useful life,” said Griffin. “Its condition is deteriorating, and it’s just time to either make a significant investment in the bridge or to replace it, and we determined the replacement was the more cost effective and beneficial solution.”
But, Griffin said the federal grant will offset the cost of the project and free up money for the state to spend $25.8 million on other infrastructure repairs around Vermont. The agency has not yet determined what projects might benefit from the redistributed funds, though, he said.
The New York-based company Harrison & Burrows Bridge Constructors will begin the three-year bridge replacement process next month, Griffin said.
One of the state transportation agency’s main goals was to improve the foundation and use non-erodible materials to make the bridge more climate resilient and mitigate the impact of future flooding events, he said.
Griffin said the plan includes innovative practices that have so far only been used for a couple bridge projects in the state. The features, like stay-in-place concrete forms and fiber-reinforced polymer bridge drains, will reduce costs and extend the life of the replacement bridge, he said.
For lists and rankings of more deals like this, browse our Infrastructure Deals Database. Just click below: