Bridge fixes are still on the agenda
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Always plenty of infrastructure projects going on. 
On the bridge list the replacement of the Danco Drive bridge replacement is finished.
Town Administrator Elaine Sistare said coming up is the replacement of the bridge on East Putnam Road over Cady Brook (near Five Mile River Road). That bridge has fallen victim to scour and is currently in the design and permitting stage. The cost for that bridge replacement is 100 percent covered by federal and state money.
Nearby, plans also call for the replacement of the bridge on Chase Road over Cady Brook. Its scour problem is critical. That project, too, is 100 percent covered. 
She said one of them will be done in 2027 and the other in 2028. They cannot be done at the same time because of the detour routes required. Whichever project is ready first will likely be done in 2027.
Scour is the erosion of soil around a bridge’s foundation — piers and abutments — caused by fast-moving water. Most of the small bridges in the Quiet Corner have this problem, including Pomfret.
The East Putnam Road Bridge over Mary Brown Brook is a 50/50-covered project. Currently two solutions are being examined for the bridge that’s in need of “structural improvement.” One is replacing the bridge, which would cost between $3 million and $5 million. The other involves solid liners in the two 12-foot diameter culverts. The lining project cost would be between $1.5 million and $2 million. How many cars go over it and other criteria are being examined. She said the state Department of Transportation would “analyze our engineer’s models” before making its recommendation.
The state’s project on fixing the retaining walls on Rt. 44 is slated to run nine months and will be full of detours. 
The project to replace “lead” pipes serving some homes will probably go out to bid this fall and probably start in 2027, she said. The service pipes for 200 to 250 residential properties in Putnam are slated for replacement of the galvanized metal pipes that run from the road to the house. She estimated about 30 to 40 feet has to be replaced at each property.
And as far as the Water Pollution Control Authority, there are two major projects. As far as water treatment, the gravity thickener/plus will probably get started in 2027. The extensive work at the Peake Brook facility will probably start in 2027, more likely 2028. She said the thickener project is further along so will likely start first.

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