Bids to replace the 1929 Kingsbury iron bridge on Route 100 with a pony truss bridge will be solicited in September and a temporary bridge downstream of the bridge will be constructed by the end of 2012.
Almost a decade in the planning, replacing the bridge will begin in the spring of 2013 with completion slated by the end of that year.
James LaCroix, Vermont Agency of Transportation project manager for the bridge replacement, said the state had recently completed final plans and timelines for the bridge replacement. He said that the state would advertise for bids on September 26.
“The plans call for replacing the existing structure with a prefabricated truss bridge. The design of the truss will be done by whichever company the chosen contractor hires to prefabricate the structure. So the exact shape and geometry of the bridge will be determined by the prefabricator but we are specifying a pony truss bridge with no top lateral braces. There are only certain types of pony truss bridges that will work for the span of the bridge,” LaCroix explained.
The temporary bridge will be constructed about 50 feet to the west of the northern end of the bridge and about 100 feet to the west of the southern end of the bridge. The temporary bridge will be in Sugarbush’s snowmaking pond field/parking area.
The current bridge will be removed next spring and will be offered to the public. LaCroix said that typically the state will offer these aging historic truss bridges to the public and that they are sometimes used for non-vehicular traffic on bike and pedestrian paths.
“But most of the time that doesn’t happen. They are given to the contractor for scrap after they are documented,” he said.
Plans for the Kingsbury Bridge call for it being advertised to the public. If no one has a use for it, it will be destroyed after the Agency of Transportation ensures that the bridge is properly photographed and documented for the state historic structures division.
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