Bridge to be narrowed to one lane

By Wiley Wood

New signs have appeared on Mountain Road, and no trucks are allowed on the snake fence section between Route 272 and West Side Road. The reason, says First Selectman Matt Riiska, is that the stone bridge over Norfolk Brook needs work.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation, which periodically inspects Norfolk’s 16 bridges, gave the bridge a “poor” rating, and an engineering study commissioned by the town confirmed the finding. The steel I-beams supporting the stonework have corroded, and the stone abutments on either side of the span have suffered from erosion.

“We plan to narrow the travel section of the bridge to one lane,” said Riiska. The measure is intended to limit the weight on the bridge at any one time and keep vehicles in the center of the roadway.

In the spring, the abutments will be shored up, with the intention of stabilizing the bridge for a year until it can be rebuilt in the spring and summer of 2020. The exclusion of trucks along that section of Mountain Road and the narrowing of the bridge will stay in place until the reconstruction is finished.

Riiska says that the local oil companies, loggers and delivery services have been notified of the closure to truck traffic, along with the fire and ambulance departments. “We do allow the school bus to go down Mountain Road,” said Riiska, “because of its long wheel base.”

The cost of rebuilding the bridge is estimated at $400,000. “That is because of the stonework to make it look exactly the way it is now,” said Riiska. “And I have insisted that it look exactly the way it does now. I think there would be a lot of people who might be upset if we were to put up a cement bridge in that area.”

Mike Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, agreed, describing the stone bridge with its planters as “iconic.” Barry Webber, executive director of the Norfolk Historical Society, believes the bridge was first built in its present form in the 1940s.

The redesign of the bridge is being completed by April 1 to allow an application to be made this year to the state for partial reimbursement, which is typically on the order of 50 percent.

The other bridge along that stretch of Mountain Road, essentially a pair of culverts with a guardrail, also received a “poor” rating from the DOT and will be replaced in the next few years.