HAMPDEN — The Hampden Board of Selectmen voted to approve another Municipal Vulnerability Program grant contract as part of the East Brook Bridge replacement project during its Aug. 26 meeting.
The final grant contract will require a $111,000 in-kind match from the town and will allow the project to be “fully permitted and shovel ready,” Town Administrator Brian Domina explained at the meeting. In this way, approving the grant will allow the town greater opportunities to secure state or federal funding if it were to become available.
The East Brook Bridge replacement project, located on Main Street near Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, began three years ago through a previous Municipal Vulnerability Program grant, according to Howard Stein Hudson Lead Civil Engineer Christopher Lyman. The bridge was marked as a priority project for the town due to its location and structurally deficient state, as two trusses on the bridge are failing. It was one of 32 structures within the town that were analyzed for the Municipal Vulnerability Program.
During the Aug. 21 Conservation Commission update of the project, Lyman stated that bridge could result in damage to Main Street if the bridge was not replaced. He noted that the project would complete its design phase in six to eight months and was waiting on funding for the construction phase.
At the Aug. 26 meeting, Selectman John Flynn stated that the town has not received word from the state that the bridge needed to be fully replaced, inquiring about whether the grant could later be used for repairing rather than replacing the bridge.
In response, Highway Superintendent Mark Langone said that it was “possible” that funds could be used for the repair of the deficient trusses but that he was uncertain the town “would get a straight answer” from engineering firm Howard Stein Hudson or the state.
Similarly, Domina stated that accepting the Municipal Vulnerability Program grant does not require the town to replace bridges.
In addition to concerns about the bridge’s deficiencies, the replacement of East Brook Bridge was also designed to reduce flood impacts, which would not be addressed if the bridge was only repaired, Flynn noted.
This issue was similarly raised at the Aug. 21 Conservation Commission meeting, with members discussing a regular review of storm barriers and the intensity of a storm that the bridge can handle. Howard Stein Hudson Principal in Charge Steve Tyler stated at the meeting that the new bridge would handle the standard level of a 25-year storm, whereas the current bridge has sustained flooding in the past.
“According to the latest bridge inspection report [from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Bridge Division] there were a few concerns. Beams 1 and 10 being one concerns, the wing walls, some scaling on the abutments and the rails and rail bases. All repairable,” Langone stated.
He went on to confirm that the town would likely only be recommended to replace the bridge within the Municipal Vulnerability Program, whereas if the town utilized an engineering firm to make the state recommended repairs, the project could differ.
If the bridge was fully replaced, Howard Stein Hudson stated that the project would take 18-24 months to complete with the bridge being reduced to one lane during that time, Selectmen Don Davenport said.
Langone was uncertain on the project’s timeline for repairing the bridge.
Moving forward, the Board of Selectmen agreed to approve the grant. Domina also stated that the town is not required to continue allotting resources to the East Brook Bridge project during future rounds of the Municipal Vulnerability Program.
