By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
NEWINGTON/DOVER – The 1938 General Sullivan Bridge over Little Bay between Newington and Dover is coming down.
The state’s Executive Council voted Wednesday to award a $28.4 million contract to a Maine firm to take the closed bridge down.
An effort by Executive Councilors John Stephen, R-Manchester and David Wheeler, R-Milford to table the request failed.
Executive Councilors Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield and Janet Stevens, R-Rye said the work needed to be done now and agreed with Commissioner of Transportation William Cass that it could be a hazard to navigation and the public if left to stand. Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon also agreed.
Before the vote, Stephen said that much of that money could be used instead for projects in the upcoming 10-year highway plan through 2037 which is $400 million below funds needed without an increase in tolls.
He said about $18.5 million in federal funds could be redirected.
Instead, the council agreed to the contract with Reed & Reed of Woolwich, Maine. Closed to traffic since 2018, the General Sullivan Bridge is in disrepair, said Cass.
This was the third time the state went out to bid on the project and this was the only bid the state received.
Cass said it is really one of the state’s road priorities that needs to be done.
“It can’t sit there indefinitely,” he said.
Stevens asked him a number of questions and he said delaying it would mean the costs would escalate, it would imperil vessels which travel under it and that could be a liability.
Kenney said he was more apt to move the contract along because “ultimately it is the right thing to do.” Cass said there is a risk of losing the funding as well if it was tabled given the climate in Washington.
But Stephen said “we are talking $18 million here that could be used for other things.”
This project is part of the State’s Ten-Year Transportation Improvement Plan and has been on the State Red List of deficient bridges since 1979.
“This project will remove the superstructure of the bridge to address safety concerns for marine users that cross underneath the bridge,” the contract reads.
Its superstructure is a nine-span Warren truss with a total length of 1,528 feet. It consists of six deck truss approach spans (three spans on each approach) that flank a three-span partial through-arch truss centered over the federal navigational channel, according to the specifications.
The superstructure is supported on eight granite faced concrete piers and two reinforced concrete abutments, the contract reads.
The bridge originally carried two lanes of vehicular traffic.
In 1984, with the widening of the Spaulding Turnpike and construction of the Northbound Little Bay Bridge, all vehicular traffic was removed from the bridge. It continued to serve as a crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists until its closure in September 2018.
A temporary crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists since August 2019 has been provided within the easterly shoulder of the Spaulding Turnpike.
“This project involves complete removal of the superstructure of the General Sullivan Bridge. Select components of the bridge will be salvaged and installed for display as part of the agreed to mitigation. At the Dover approach, the superstructure of the existing pedestrian access bridge will be fenced off. At the Newington approach, the approach path will be fenced off at the path junction with Shattuck Way,” it states.
Cass said that the project had advertised twice previously and due to exceedingly high bids, those bids were not awarded.
He said he feared that if the project went out to bid for a fourth time that the contracting community would begin to lose faith in the state and its bidding process.
A future contract, he said, will study alternatives to provide permanent pedestrian access across Little Bay.
The project funding is: 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent from turnpike toll credits.