LINCOLN — The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) announced that construction was beginning the week of June 8 to replace the Lincoln TH 1 Bridge 19 located over the New Haven River. The bridge is located on East River Road about one-half mile south of TH 1 and Gove Hill Road.
The project will replace the existing bridge, which is in poor condition, with a new bridge that meets current design standards. The new bridge will be a precast pre-stressed concrete box beam bridge, which has a relatively short construction period and comparatively low construction and maintenance costs. Compared with the existing bridge that is 128 feet long and 21 feet wide between curbs, the new bridge will be 128 feet in length and 28 feet wide between curbs. The new bridge will also feature widened shoulders to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians along with new railing along the span and at the approaches.?
Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods will be used, which will expedite construction. With the ABC methods, there will be a 50-day bridge closure period somewhere within the timeframe of June 18 to Aug. 28. The contractor’s current schedule shows the closure period tentativelyfrom July 10 to Aug. 28. These dates could possibly be moved up by a week.
During the closure period the old bridge will be removed and replaced with a new bridge.?Prior to the closure period, crews will be working on preparing the bridge for replacement. The work will require daily lane closures at the bridge with flaggers present to maintain traffic flow. Motorists can expect construction activity throughout the summer at the bridge location.?During the bridge closure period, a traffic detour will be in effect and marked with directional signs. Motorists traveling from the north will take Gove Road, to West Hill Road, to Ripton Road, to Grimes Road, to South Lincoln Road. Motorists traveling from the south will take South Lincoln, to Grimes Road, to Ripton Road, to West Hill Road to Gove Road. 
?After the closure period ends, work will continue to complete the project. Motorists will experience daily lane closures with flaggers present to assist in maintaining traffic flow. The project completion is scheduled for October 2015.
?Work updates and press releases will be issued and distributed to various media sources. Information will also be available on www.roadworkupdates.com. Francine Perkins of FRP Enterprises, LLC, has been assigned as Project Outreach Coordinator to work with the Vermont Agency of Transportation and JA McDonald on this project. Anyone with questions or concerns about this project, before or during the project, should contact Francine Perkins at 802-479-6994.