DALTON, Mass. — The town's lowest-rated bridge is slated for an approximately $2.5 million reconstruction project.

 

During the Select Board meeting on Monday it was announced that the town has been awarded a $1 million grant through the Municipal Small Bridge Program for the bridge on Grange Hall Road over Barton Brook, located near Patricia Avenue. 

 

The town's engineers estimated the total cost to complete is $2,335,000, however these estimates tend to run a little high, Town Manager Eric Anderson said. 

 

"It's an expensive project, there is no question but it does have to be done. That is the culvert the town has with the lowest rating in town," he said. 

 

If the town were to decide to delay the project, which would revoke its eligibility for the state grant, then it would be on the hook for the total cost.

 

When the town agrees to the grant, it is agreeing to this bridge project, Anderson said. 

 

According to the state website, the short span bridge, built in 1938, was inspected on July 20, 2025 and rated as structurally deficient. 

 

It was said that the town will need to allocate the remaining approximate 1,335,000 but this is the cheapest it will ever be because of the state grant. 

 

The town can allocate this funding through a combination of free cash and capital stabilization without having to go into short-term debt. This would need to be approved at a special town meeting, likely in September or October. The town has $1.49 million in Capital Stabilization.

 

According to project documentation, the anticipated timeline calls for the project to go out to bid in fall 2026, with a contractor expected to be selected during the winter of 2026-27 and construction beginning in spring 2027.

 

This grant award is reimbursement-based, similar to the Chapter 90 Program. Grant recipients may submit reimbursement requests as costs are incurred. 

 

"The replacement scheme for this project will be to take it from a twin pipe steel corrugated steel culvert to an actual box culvert with an open bottom," Anderson said. 

 

For practical purposes, it will be a prefabricated bridge, he said, meaning it is manufactured in a factory then shipped in pieces or modules to the construction site for final assembly. 

 

The entire existing structure will be demolished during the project. According to documentation on the project,  no existing drawings of the bridge are known to exist. 

 

However, based on portions of the structure observed, it consists of two 5-foot-diameter steel pipes approximately 70 feet long, positioned at a 45-degree angle beneath Grange Hall Road, project documentation says. 

 

It has masonry headwalls at both ends, supports a 21-foot-wide roadway with two travel lanes, and has W-beam guardrails on both sides. 

 

The project will consist of installing temporary traffic controls, erosion and sediment control,  a temporary utility structure, and control of water, the document said. 

 

Once demolished a substructure will be installed and protective riprap covered with 12 inches of natural streambed material will be placed, it said. 

 

Then there will be the installation of bridge units, construction of wingwalls, and modified third beam. Additionally existing utilities will be relocated, the document said. 

 

There will be a full-depth reconstruction along the approach roadway, installation of guardrail and other incidental work necessary to complete the proposed project, it said. 

 

This project will qualify the town for the federal local bridge program when it needs to be replaced or repaired a century from now,  which will be cheaper, Anderson said.