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Bridge work
is coming
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The Chase Road bridge in East Putnam is the first of three or four bridges that will benefit from the revamped federal and state bridge grant program.
Travis Sirrine, highway superintendent, said the program used to be 80 percent funded by the federal government for the repair/rebuild costs and the town picked up the remaining 20 percent. But now the federal government picks up 80 percent and the state kicks in the remaining 20 percent.
“Repairs and rebuilds are very expensive. Very tough on towns so this is a great program,” he said.
In addition to the Chase Road bridge, the state has on its list an East Putnam Road bridge, and a bridge on Five Mile River Road. In addition, he said, the state is looking into the bridge on Keech Brook in East Putnam. That one is not definitive yet, he said.
All the bridges are longer than 20 feet.
Sirrine said there is no local involvement at all. It is handled by the state completely. “We did meet with the state and three or four bridges are in line to get funded,” he said.
He said none of the bridges are dangerous. He said they are being “updated to modern standards.”
Across the country, he said, there are a lot of bridge failures that have brought this to the forefront. The state intends to be proactive and bring bridge standards up. Near the top of the list is making sure bridges can handle heavier weights, for example emergency vehicles.
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