Road, bridge, and culvert damage in Fayston was significant and the town is working to repair roads and culverts while making plans to install two temporary bridges, one on Randell Road and the other on Airport Road. All of that damage stems from the July 10 flooding that also caused extensive damage in Moretown, Duxbury and Waterbury.
Select board chair Chuck Martel said that preliminary estimates for each of the temporary bridges is $150,000. That work includes removing the remnants of the old bridges and work on the abutments to make less work when new, permanent bridges are installed.
“We’re trying to get those priced, installed and sourced before winter,” he said.
He also said that he (and the town) are aware that this week’s flooding in the Northeast Kingdom will mean that the demand for temporary bridges will go up and hence, the town needed to move on getting bridges.
Despite the losses being eligible for FEMA reimbursement, Martel said the town will likely need to borrow funds for the bridge work because of the time lag to receive federal reimbursement.
In addition to the bridge work, the town has replaced 10 to 12 culverts on Dunbar Hill Road which was basically destroyed by the flooding. In the interest of getting that road reopened Martel said the town made the decision to replace the destroyed private culverts with larger culverts (at an estimated cost of $1,000 to $1,100 per culvert) in anticipation of the next flood impacting that road.
“It’s all conjecture now, after the fact, but the thought is that the damage to that road could have started at the top of the hill and culverts got blocked by debris, which caused a cascading effect as culverts further down the hill also got blocked as the volume of water increased,” Martel explained.
The Dunbar Hill flooding also caused extensive damage to North Fayston Road.
“Our general policy is that driveways and culverts are the landowners’ responsibility. This work is definitely an exception to the rule and it’s to try and save the road in the future but also to expedite the rebuilding,” he added.
