PALMER – While the repair and replacement of the Church Street bridge will occur, elected officials say it will take some time for the construction to begin.

On Nov. 1, the Palmer Conservation Commission hosted a public hearing on the application of Tighe & Bond Inc. Chairman Donald Blais Jr. explained that the applicant has submitted a Notice of Intent for activities associated with the proposed repair and replacement of the bridge to restore a stable and reliable crossing for the users over the Ware River.

Dan Holmes, project manager with Tighe & Bond, shared that they are representing the town on the Church Street bridge replacement project. “The bridge is currently closed. The goal of this project is to get it reopened,” he said.

Holmes reviewed the existing conditions through a site plan. He pointed out the small patch of wetlands next to the bridge along with the 100- and 200-foot buffers. “Essentially, what we’re looking to do is leave the existing abutments and the piers in place and demo the superstructure and replace it with a new steel bridge,” said Holmes.

Currently, there are overhead lines on the northeast side of the road. Holmes explained that when the work begins, the contractor will need some type of crane to help demolish and install the new bridge. He added that they are accounting for a little bit more clearing on the western side of the road.

Holmes went on to say that there is an existing natural gas line connected to the bridge. Under a separate project that he believes will be before the board soon, they will be looking to replace that gas line and horizontally directionally drill that under the river. “Our goal will be to have that removed from the bridge prior to demolition,” he said.

For the proposed condition, there will be some demolition of the existing bridge. Holmes said the contractor will have to put up some type of debris catchment system so that as they wreck the bridge it will fall into a catchment instead of the river. He noted that they are not planning to permit work in the river so that catchment area will have to be secured to the pier and the abutments.

For the demolition after the removal of the superstructure to accommodate the new bridge, they will have to demolish the backwalls, which includes a portion of the abutments. Holmes said this will allow them to reconstruct to the correct elevation.

When it comes time to installing the new bridge, Holmes explained, they will build the bridge on one side of the road and settle the crane on the other side to lever the bridge. “They cantilever the bridge – they kind of push it – it’s on rollers [and] they get it about halfway,” said Holmes. “Once it gets to about halfway, the crane will connect to it and lift it and pull it the rest of the way [to] set it.” Once it’s set, a back wall will be built behind it, causing a small gap between the new bridge and back wall.

“We are proposing that erosion controls [are] on all four corners of the bank, [as] that’s the area that will be cleared out,” said Holmes. For the final restoration and repaving, he shared that they are looking to construct a new crosswalk and maintain one across the bridge.

Blais said residents often ask him about the timeline of the project. However, he noted that there is an entire process involved. This includes going out to bid, being selected, going through a submittal process, review from Massachusetts Department of Transportation, ordering materials and so on.
Holmes said the project will not be started by the spring, but it will be happening in the near future.