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Flagging
It's hard to see but there are several pink "ribbons" wrapped around trees near the Taft Pond Road bridge. Linda Lemmon photo.

Steps to new
bridge
beginning
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET --- Although the bridge construction is not likely to begin for three years, there are signs of progress for the Taft Pond Road Bridge.
Small signs, but signs nonetheless. Pink ribbons delineating the wetlands areas around the bridge have been placed.
First Selectman Maureen Nicholson said flagging the wetlands is one of many, many steps to be completed before construction can begin.
Taft Pond Road Bridge is one of three bridges that the town has submitted for replacement. The federal Department of Transportation Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act program goes through the state. The federal local bridge program will put up 80 percent of the cost and the state pays the remaining 20 percent. The three bridges submitted are: The Taft Pond Road bridge, the Bosworth Road bridge and the Day Road bridge. She said they will cover one bridge per year and she expects projects will take perhaps three years to start.
The Taft bridge is the furthest along in the process.  Nicholson said that construction will "most likely" begin in 2026. CHA Consulting Inc. of Rocky Hill is helping the town with the engineering requirements.
She said that the wetlands are flagged and the report on the wetlands has gone to the state DOT. She added that to reduce the reoccurrence of erosion and the "scour" that resulted in the 3-ton limit again, the new bridge will be "1.2 times of bankful width."  Scour is when vicious storm water washes away some of the soil at the base of the bridge supports.
Other steps include investigating easements, abutters, soil tests, traffic studies, research the soil, the quality and the volume of water and much more.
Nicholson said, last year, the town has 24 bridges. Twelve of them are longer than 20 feet and the other 12 are shorter than 20 feet. A few years ago, the state stopped doing inspections on bridges shorter than 20 feet and ordered the towns to have them inspected. She added that the town also has many culverts that need work.

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