Caution: Bridge work ahead
With so many local spans 'structurally deficient,'state is pressed to invest more money in repairs
It was, as the saying goes, an accident waiting to happen.
After a chunk of Lee's Bridge in Lincoln gave way in 1999, state highway officials said standard inspections could not have detected the flaws that caused the failure. The collapse, which left a hole in the bridge larger than a car but injured no one, was the result of internal cracking that was not visible from the roadway.
The damage prompted emergency inspections of bridges across the state, as well as more careful scrutiny of arched structures like Lee's, which carries Route 117 over the Sudbury River.
There is general agreement that what happened to Lee's Bridge was unusual. But even today, roughly 40 bridges out of 630 in the suburbs west of Boston are considered ''structurally deficient" by the Highway Department and other state agencies, according to a year-old federal database.
While that does not necessarily mean the bridges are unsafe, it does mean they have shown measurable deterioration and need repairs. The state places a priority on fixing bridges that fall into this category.
It is work that, some say, should happen as soon as possible.
''People, in general, take a lot of our infrastructure for granted," said Abbie Goodman, executive director of the Engineering Center, a Boston-based consortium that issued a report on the state's bridges last year. ''You can't just assume it's going to be there forever without maintenance."
Arguing that repairs only get more expensive as they are postponed, Goodman's organization supports an annual investment of $200 million to repair the state's bridges. The state spent roughly $206 million to repair and replace bridges last year, up from $188 million in 2004. Goodman said she hopes this level of investment continues.
While the additional money has helped the state cover more repairs, officials also are playing a constant game of catch-up as more bridges, subjected to the pounding of cars and trucks and ravaged by harsh weather, gradually deteriorate.
In many cases, it can take years for bridges to be repaired, often because of complex engineering demands. Six years later, Lee's Bridge is still in the process of being rebuilt to historic specifications while cars travel over a nearby temporary structure. The project is expected to cost about $7 million, said Jon Carlisle, a spokesman for the state Highway Department.
A bridge project at the intersection of routes 9 and 16 in Wellesley has taken several years to complete because of unexpected problems with the structure's wall, improperly sized materials, and utility relocation. Other bridges in Wellesley, including the bridge that carries Cedar Street over Route 9, are awaiting repairs, said Doug Stewart, the assistant town engineer.
A temporary support structure that was installed above a bridge on Pelham Island Road in Wayland has been in place for five years, according to Stephen Kadlik, director of highway operations in Wayland.
Members of the Legislature's Transportation Committee say they would like to see bridges repaired as quickly as possible -- before they have to be closed.
''It's a major concern and a priority of the committee," said state Representative Stephen LeDuc (D-Marlborough), who added that motorists might not always realize what kind of condition some bridges are in.
''It's usually not apparent to the person driving over them," he said. Recalling the incident at Lee's Bridge, LeDuc said, ''It's something nobody wants to see take place again."
Several local public works officials note that bridges are regularly inspected and say plans for repairs are usually in the pipeline.
''I'm not trying to put any fear out there," said Tony Marques, Hudson's public works director.
Local officials make minor repairs to bridges when necessary. Last spring, a chunk 2 feet in diameter fell out of the underside of the Boundary Street bridge in Marlborough, said Tom Cullen, assistant commissioner for operations at the city's Department Of Public Works. Workers were able to detect the problem from above and break through to make repairs.
Anthony Del Gaizo, Needham's town engineer, said the town inspects its own bridges and will patch potholes or fix railings. ''It could be anything, and it's routine," he said. ''It's usually minor."
The state Highway Department, which generally handles major repairs on road bridges more than 20 feet long, said about 500 of 4,400 state- and community-owned bridges across Massachusetts are considered structurally deficient. Many more are considered ''functionally obsolete," meaning they are too narrow or too low for today's traffic.
As of last month, 40 bridges statewide were closed, and 519 had weight restrictions, according to the state.
Other state agencies, such as the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, are responsible for their own bridges. A handful of Turnpike bridges, including structures in Newton and Westborough, are scheduled for repair, according to the authority.
The authority allocates about $13 million for various road repairs each year, spokeswoman Mariellen Burns wrote in an e-mail. Last year, about $3 million was spent on bridge work; this year, the agency's board of directors has awarded $7 million in bridge contracts so far.
The delays in replacing the Lincoln bridge are partly due to another factor at play in some projects: The bridge is considered historic and is being rebuilt to resemble the original. Rocks from the original bridge have been chiseled apart, cataloged and refurbished, and are being placed on the new bridge in the original pattern, Carlisle said.
''This is a very labor-intensive project," he said.
Douglas Adams, an architect and Lincoln resident who supported the preservation of the bridge, noted that it was built for pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles, not trucks.
Some older bridges deteriorate when water from the road seeps into the concrete and rusts out metal reinforcements, Adams said. Bridge construction has evolved to prevent these kinds of problems, he said.
John Kerr, a former Lincoln selectman who now lives in Wyoming, said he has been pleased that several agencies have worked together to replace the bridge, calling it a ''very, very successful project." Adams said the bridge was a ''unique, historic artifact and was critical to the whole character of the river."
Matt Carroll of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 