Taft bridge replacement starts April 1
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET — Most of the prep work is finished and the first of three bridge projects, the Taft Pond Road Bridge, will get underway April 1.
According to the contract, NJR Construction LLC of Torrington has 244 days to complete the work. First Selectman Maureen Nicholson said if they hit that number, the bridge will be finished before winter.
Much of the prep work is finished; however, she said a biologist will check for any signs of fresh water white mussels. She said it’s unlikely any of those mussels are this far north but a biologist will check.
Around April 1 the road will be closed and there will be a 6-mile detour. 
The state Department of Transportation declared that bridge “in poor condition” and ordered it replaced. Scour is a critical problem around the bridge abutments. Scour results when vicious storm water washes away some of the soil at the base of the bridge supports.
Prep work has involved the removal of dozens of trees on both sides of Taft Pond Road. The clearing is required because the road and the bridge are being raised slightly and the bridge will be slightly wider and longer. This will allow solid abutments to be tied into bedrock — no longer victim to scour. 
“Major storms had eroded the support behind the abutments,” she said.
The bridge crosses Nightingale Brook. The wetlands have already been delineated. 
A few years ago, the state stopped doing inspections on bridges shorter than 20 feet and ordered the towns to have them inspected. The new bridge will be slightly longer than 20 feet. The Danco bridge in Putnam is also being replaced (also by NJR Construction) and that new bridge is also being lengthened 20 feet plus.
Nicholson said the Bosworth Road Bridge will be done in 2027 and the Day Road Bridge will be done in 2028. All the bridge projects are 100 percent covered, 80 percent by federal funds and 20 percent in state funds. Originally the total grant coverage was 80 percent, she said, but towns could not afford the 20 percent so the grant formula was changed. 

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