Andover bridge reconstruction to close road
Aug. 22 to Nov. 4

| Aug 10, 2022 | Comments 1

Andover Bridge 9 over Trout Brook. Photo by VTrans.

By Cynthia Prairie
©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Construction crews are expected to begin assembling on site this week to begin the process of taking down and replacing Andover Bridge No. 9, over Trout Brook, just southeast of the switchback on the Weston-Andover Road.

The road is expected to be closed starting on Monday, Aug. 22, with reopening targeted for Friday, Nov. 4, 74 days later.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation hired Belden Construction LLC of Rutland to do the job, with a planned cost of $2.9 million to replace the 82-footlong, single-span rolled beam bridge.

VTrans rates the 84-year-old bridge’s decking as poor, although its superstructure and substructure are rated satisfactory and fair, respectively.  According to VTrans, the deck “is at risk for full depth hole formation and a critical maintenance request has been sent to the Town of Andover.” 

Click map to enlarge. VTrans map enhanced by Cynthia Prairie.

An engineering study completed in mid-2018 recommended a complete bridge replacement rather than repair.

The Town of Andover is suggesting that drivers take one of two routes:
  1. For trucks that usually cut through Andover but have no deliveries within the town: Stay on Route 11 to Londonderry, then take Route 100 to Weston.
  2. For all other drivers: Use Middletown Road, which is unpaved, Route 11 and Hill Top Road, which is weight restricted.  See map to the right.
 
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Filed Under: Andover • Featured • Latest News

About the Author: Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.

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  1. Alton Clark says:
    August 10, 2022 at 10:15 am

    84 yr old decking?? NO, I remember when that bridge was built. It was far shorter then 84 yrs. In fact the road never closed when they did that. As for location, Should have just put Ox Bow turn bridge. ALL locals would know it. Who else remember when the road was dirt?