State officials have closed a bridge on U.S. Route 2 in East St. Johnsbury after it was deemed unsafe to travel on. Kelly McManus owns Aspire Behavioral clinic, which helps kids with autism. Their space is near the bridge, and she said the closure has been negatively affecting the ability of her students to get out and about. “During the day, we take the kids down to a local school to play on the playground,” McManus said. “Yesterday, we were actually going to go to Lancaster to see a movie, which we weren't able to do because to go there would be a long ride for the kids. So that impacted the kids being able to get out every day and get sunshine and fresh air and all of that.”Officials inspected the bridge and conducted a temporary fix. But last week's raging flood water ripped out the earth under the bridge supports, leaving them floating. “As the water went lower and lower, we realized there was a massive void underneath the abutment,” said Ernie Patnoe, the director of maintenance at VTRANS. “So basically, the abutment was just hanging in there and upon finding that, we had to immediately close the bridge.”The current state of the bridge is unsafe and needs to be totally replaced. The VTRANS crews and contractors will tear down the old bridge and put a new temporary one in its place across the 14-foot span.“A Herculean effort was launched,” Patnoe said. “It's going to be a full-width, two-lane, temporary bridge. It will be an unrestricted bridge. And we are going to do everything in our power to have that bridge open 5 to 6 days from .”The current detour is long, diverting people miles into Littleton or Lancaster, New Hampshire. “So what would have taken us probably 20, 25 minutes to get to Lancaster would probably take us close to an hour,” McManus said. “So we're staying put until this is all figured out, just to make sure that we stay safe.”Officials are asking for people's patience while they fix the bridge, as crews have been out working hard all around the state. “We're having problems with people throwing our signs and barricades over the side of the road because they're frustrated,” Patnoe said. “And please, if folks could partner with us, that is so dangerous for the next person.”VTRANS said it will continue to bring updates about this closure and all others around the state as soon as they are available.
SAINT JOHNSBURY, Vt. —
State officials have closed a bridge on U.S. Route 2 in East St. Johnsbury after it was deemed unsafe to travel on.
Kelly McManus owns Aspire Behavioral clinic, which helps kids with autism. Their space is near the bridge, and she said the closure has been negatively affecting the ability of her students to get out and about.
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“During the day, we take the kids down to a local school to play on the playground,” McManus said. “Yesterday, we were actually going to go to Lancaster to see a movie, which we weren't able to do because to go there would be a long ride for the kids. So that impacted the kids being able to get out every day and get sunshine and fresh air and all of that.”
Officials inspected the bridge and conducted a temporary fix. But last week's raging flood water ripped out the earth under the bridge supports, leaving them floating.
“As the water went lower and lower, we realized there was a massive void underneath the abutment,” said Ernie Patnoe, the director of maintenance at VTRANS. “So basically, the abutment was just hanging in there and upon finding that, we had to immediately close the bridge.”
The current state of the bridge is unsafe and needs to be totally replaced. The VTRANS crews and contractors will tear down the old bridge and put a new temporary one in its place across the 14-foot span.
“A Herculean effort was launched,” Patnoe said. “It's going to be a full-width, two-lane, temporary bridge. It will be an unrestricted bridge. And we are going to do everything in our power to have that bridge open 5 to 6 days from [Wednesday].”
The current detour is long, diverting people miles into Littleton or Lancaster, New Hampshire.
“So what would have taken us probably 20, 25 minutes to get to Lancaster would probably take us close to an hour,” McManus said. “So we're staying put until this is all figured out, just to make sure that we stay safe.”
Officials are asking for people's patience while they fix the bridge, as crews have been out working hard all around the state.
“We're having problems with people throwing our signs and barricades over the side of the road because they're frustrated,” Patnoe said. “And please, if folks could partner with us, that is so dangerous for the next person.”
VTRANS said it will continue to bring updates about this closure and all others around the state as soon as they are available.
