By Rachel Goff
Back in August, Warren Select Board debated whether to move forward with plans to repair the Warren covered bridge, but now it appears they have no choice if they want the work to get done at all.
At their meeting on Tuesday, October 28, the board decided to meet with engineers DuBois & King Construction, who the town hired to engineer an abutment redesign plan for the bridge last year. Due to the complex, ever-evolving science and state policies informing all work that's done in a river in Vermont, however, the plan is still not close to being finalized.
"We've spent a lot of money on the engineering and we have nothing to show for it," select board member Anson Montgomery said in August, explaining that Warren has already invested about $45,000 in the redesign and is still not sure what the new bridge abutments will look like.
And while DuBois & King has not finalized a plan, it does know the cost to repair the covered bridge will be much more than the town had anticipated, as the engineering company's original $375,000 price estimate has since increased to $620,000 (not including redesign fees).
Currently, Warren has a grant from Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) for only $300,000 for the project, and "if there isn't alternate funding, I don't really see [the abutment redesign] going forward—at least not at this time," select board chair Andy Cunningham said in August.
"The parameters are so wide open," Montgomery said, including the fact that the town does not know what will be happening with the timber crib dam that lies just downstream of the bridge, which has fallen into disrepair and which may or may not be replaced.
Last Tuesday, however, Warren public works director Barry Simpson announced that he is applying for a Transportation Alternatives Grant that "would cover most of the actual construction costs" of the covered bridge repair, but he added the town will be less likely to receive the grant if the project is still "on hold," he said.
"I think it's a great idea to get together with [DuBois & King], clear the air and sort of reboot the project," Cunningham said in response, so that the town can stand a better chance at receiving outside funding.
At the end of the evening, the board planned to set up a meeting with the project's engineers the following week. As of now, Warren still does not know how much replacing the abutments will cost and "the uncertainty is killing us," select board member Bob Ackland said.
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