Bridge infrastructure often goes unnoticed in our day-to-day commutes. The maintenance of these connectors of communities and highways is crucial in maintaining traffic flows and quite literally bridging gaps of access for people in the region.
To learn more about the ebb and flow of bridge infrastructure between municipalities and the state, Reminder Publishing spoke with the Department of Transportation for a closer look.
Bridge quality in the region
According to a statement from MassDOT, bridges in Western Massachusetts are very similar condition wise to others all over the state. For the most part, there are even levels of bridges considered fair or poor conditioned in the region compared to across the state.
MassDOT tracks the condition of bridges all across the state and through their website it is possible to review the bridges through a map containing all the bridge data from the state. The scale the bridges are weighted on is from zero to nine. Nine is a brand new bridge and zero is a closed bridge.
According to MassDOT, the safety of a bridge is determined by both an inspection and a load capacity rating. Every state bridge is inspected on a biennial basis and based on these findings, bridges are graded good, fair or poor (previously known as structurally deficient). According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s 2023 inventory data, of the 2,452 bridges in Massachusetts Congressional District 1, 7.8%, or 191 of those bridges are classified as structurally deficient.
“A poor bridge does not mean that a bridge is unsafe but is an indication that some or all of the bridge components require repair or replacement,” said MassDOT in a statement. “Poor bridges are inspected more frequently. If an inspector sees a change in condition, they will recommend that the bridge be load rated. This structural analysis may show that the bridge needs to be posted for a reduced load, or that is needs to be restricted, such as shutting down a lane, or closed altogether, to maintain safety. If an inspector sees a condition that is visibly unsafe, MassDOT has procedures where engineers verify this conservation and can close the bridge.”
Springfield DPW Director Chris Cignoli told Reminder Publishing bridge health is overall in a good place for the city. He added the many bridges connecting Springfield with communities across the Connecticut River and connecting the highways around it make it a unique place for bridge infrastructure as the city is the hub of the region.
“The state inspects the structures a minimum of every two years,” Cignoli said. “Usually what we do is if they come back and say, ‘there’s a concern here, you need to address it,’ but in most cases we’re dealing with bridges that are in decent condition.”
Cignoli added every few years a project naturally comes up and then his team works with MassDOT to get into the planning phase of the project.
“The inspection reports that are done at the state level give us a very good overview of the condition of the structures every year,” he said.
Cignoli explained that MassDOT is responsible for the maintenance of the state highways and the bridges connected to the city which makes them a great partner in working together in addressing the needs of part of the region’s transportation.
“The coordination and communication of it all is very important,” he said.
Prioritization of bridge repairs
According to a 2022 study by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, over 644 state bridges were considered structurally deficit. Inside the study, a main reasoning for this is quite simply the age of the state’s bridges and changing of weather patterns.
“Age as well as traffic volume are large contributing factors to bridge deterioration, as well as environmental factors, such as severe winters that result in more use of road salt to keep the roads open,” said MassDOT. “While repairs of individual elements can help keep a bridge safe, there are cases where repairs alone are no longer cost effective, and a full replacement or a major rehabilitation are required to extend the service life of the bridge.”
The prioritization of these bridge projects can become complicated and often don’t have a clear timeline of when the project can even begin, shared Cignoli, who said compared to roadway projects they are just more difficult to plan for between time and money.
“Bridges are a little bit of a different animal from a funding source standpoint. We have a bridge on Bradley Road that needs to be replaced and is close to 100 years old. So, we are starting to go through the process with MassDOT on it,” Cignoli said.
He further explained when doing a roadway project using MassDOT funds, the process for that is set in place and the city knows its about a three to five year timeline. Compared to bridges, Cignoli said it is not as well defined as a process.
“The project that we’re going to do on Bradley Road is probably about $3.5 million in the end. MassDOT pays for the construction, we pay for the design. But when will that project get funded for construction right now? We probably won’t know that for another couple years whereas on the road way stuff we know that two, to three to four years out on a five year program.”
Cignoli added out of pocket maintenance costs for the city also create challenges when dealing with bridges as prices can sneak up on municipalities when it may be time to address a bridges condition. He explained roadway projects also have the Transportation Improvement Plan handled through the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and that same structure was just not available for bridge work dude to its nature.
With this being the reality of the process for bridge projects, Cignoli said in some instances, the bridge’s condition must naturally get worse in order to put the project in motion and properly address projects when needed.
“Replacing bridges is extremely expensive and I think it’s just have probably too much defined work for the amount of funds they have available for a particular year,” Cignoli said.
MassDOT further explained due to its process with bridges, they use a bridge inventory and inspection data to prioritize all bridges in the state through a relative ranking system, which, amongst other factors, considers current condition, future condition and bridge usage.
“This bridge prioritization with input from engineers in the MassDOT districts, is used to develop the MassDOT Capital Investment Plan while maintaining regional investment equity across the commonwealth,” said MassDOT in a statement. “This plan includes cost-effective maintenance and preservation projects for good/fair condition bridges, and more intensive rehabilitation and replacement projects to address poor condition structures.”
According to the department, municipalities also have the option of performing repairs of bridges they own using their own funds or Chapter 90 allotments. Another avenue is the MassDOT Municipal Small Bridge Program that provides funding to municipalities for the replacement, preservation and rehabilitation of eligible bridges.
To be considered for funding for the Municipal Small Bridge Program grants, bridges must be on a local public way and must be on the State Bridge Inventory with a span between 10 and 20 feet. The program provides grants in two phases for the design and construction of bridge projects. Selection is based on need and merit. The next application round is expected to take place this fall.
Importance of bridge health and a future outlook
Looking at the coming years, Cignoli said one potential candidate for replacement is the West Street Bridge that goes over the Chicopee River. He noted that while the bridge had repairs done on it in the past year, a full rehabilitation is due in the next eight to 10 years so a design process will inevitably begin for the project on the city’s side.
Cignoli also said the bridge on Bradley Road is about 100 years old and has a crack in its abutment.
“It’s one of those that seems in OK shape, but it’s one of those where the process takes so long that we look at it and go, for bridges you can’t wait for it to fall down. You gotta get a head of it,” Cignoli said.
He added a few other bridges will have eyes kept on them as in recent years environmental impacts from intense rain have sped up deterioration of some structures. Overall, Cignoli said this is just a part of staying ahead of the process when it comes to bridges.
Cignoli added while the work can get complicated, the team with MassDOT on bridges are effective communicators and work diligently to maintain quality bridge conditions.
“MassDOT recognizes the fact that some of these communities are more rural and that there are fewer detour options if a bridge has to be closed,” the department said in a statement. “Therefore, MassDOT looks to prioritize these poor condition bridges that are on routes essential for travel by entities including school bus, police and fire department vehicles that serve communities.”
