According to spokesperson Cindy Cook, the replacement of the Lareau bridge on Route 100 in Waitsfield is proceeding well.
Route 100 was closed for through traffic on June 19 and will remain closed for 35 days. As of July 7, there are only 16 days left of the road being closed. Drivers are directed to use Route 17, German Flats Road and Sugarbush Access Road as a detour route. Many are using other local roads to get by the detour. All businesses on Route 100 before and after the bridge remain open.
This week structural steel beams were being set. Precast deck panels will be set onto the beams this week and the forming for the deck and placement of the reinforcing steel for the concrete overlay will begin. The overlay deck concrete will be placed sometime during the week of July 11.
Last week the demolition was completed and on June 25 the contractor set the precast footing pieces and the two wing walls onto the sub-footing for abutment one, which is on the south side. On Monday, June 27, the contractor grouted in the footing and on Tuesday they placed the concrete for the closure pours between the footing pieces. Meanwhile on the north, 10 piles were set with a vibratory hammer, and then they were driven to bedrock with a diesel hammer. On June 29, contractors set the precast abutment two sections which will slide down over the H piles. They will be post tensioned together before the pile cavities are filled with concrete. For the post tensioning there are two vertical rows of 10 PVC ducts running through these pieces and each duct will have two strands. To each of the 40 strands a force of 44,000 pounds will be applied and maintained to keep it all together as one unit. The longer structural steel girders (122 feet) are being delivered this week to the south side. The shorter pieces (50 feet) arrived last week and are in a staging area. Structural steel will be set next week. Each longer beam will be spliced (with a bolted connection) to a shorter beam as cranes hold them in place over the river.
To sign up for weekly project updates and for more information, contact public outreach coordinator Cook by email at
