A Tale pg 1 8-11-11
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- Category: Past Issues
caption:
Open! Open!
Pomfret's Covell Road bridge, a traditional shortcut for residents, reopened Aug. 1. Linda Lemmon photo.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET --- 2011 is the year of the bridges in Pomfret.
The Covell Road bridge, closed by the state a long, long three years ago, reopened the first week of August, according to First Selectman Jim Rivers.
The bridge is "substantially done" and now residents have their favorite shortcut back. In July 2008, state inspectors shut down the bridge after finding too much corrosion on the I-beam that supported the bridge. Barr Inc. of Putnam was hired to replace the bridge and straighten part of the road leading up to it.
Rivers said there is still a "punch list" to be done, but the bridge is open. The bridge project, including engineering and construction, cost $1 million. The federal bridge replacement program covered about $800,000 of that cost and the town had already set aside the $200,000 balance.
Rivers said the town and Barr Inc. officials are discussing subtracting from the final bill the "liquid damages" because the bridge did not reopen by the April 15 deadline. Because an inspector is required at the site during construction, the additional cost of the inspector from April 15 forward should be deducted from the final payment to the contractor. Rivers said the town and Barr Inc. are working through the liquid damages "with the state's help."
Meanwhile, practically a stone's throw from the now-open Covell Road bridge, on Rt. 97, the rebuilding of the state bridge near North Road is progressing nicely, Rivers said, and that bridge may be open "perhaps by November" at the end of the building season.
Rivers said that bridge replacement project and reworking of North Road nearby is 100 percent a state project. He added that that project was on a "regular schedule" for the state, based on the age and condition of the bridge.
Both the Rt. 97 and the Covell Road bridges cross Mashamoquet Brook.