Newly Constructed Bridge Has Erosion Issues

HARWICH  – Heavy rains last week caused erosion around the newly reconstructed Azalea Drive bridge in the Headwaters section of town. Sediment washed down the banks adjacent to the bridge, narrowing the Herring River that flows below.

While there remains enough water beneath the bridge for fish, if the situation is not addressed officials say they will have to issue an enforcement order to ensure the erosion is mitigated.

Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski said she and Natural Resources Director Stephanie Sykes went out to the bridge on Thursday to document the conditions and have been in touch with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), which is doing the work, in an attempt to rectify the situation.

  “They have been made aware that a solution needs to be found ASAP,” Usowski wrote in an email. “If we do not hear back from them in a week or so, I would anticipate that I would issue an enforcement order to stabilize the area.”

 Sykes said there is still enough flow beneath the bridge for fish to pass, but there is sediment in the river. Officials are working with the state Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) and MassDOT to coordinate and maintain an appropriate width and depth to the river. 

“DMF has expressed concern for the stability of the site,” Sykes said. “It’s a vulnerable area. Fish passage is a strong priority in Harwich.”

Sykes said juvenile herring have begun migrating from the headwaters spawning grounds, adding she noticed them moving over the flume boards in Hinckley’s Pond last week. Sykes said there was a site visit planned on Tuesday with DMF’s diadromous fish project leader Brad Chase. 

The bridge was reconstructed in the past couple of years by E.T & L Corp. under a contract with MassDOT to replace the previous, structurally deficient bridge that carries Azalea Drive over the Herring River.

MassDOT the former bridge as having structural and maintenance issues, including poor drainage leading to roadway ponding and water leakage through bridge deck and beams, substandard sidewalks and approach roadways, non-standard bridge railings, and non-standard live load capacity.

 The bridge reconstruction project cost just under $4 million.

 But the recent rains are raising questions about the need for additional catch basins at the bridge. This is the second time this year water has overflowed the roadway, according to Department of Public Works Director Lincoln Hooper. He said that earlier in the spring there was an instance when rainwater overflowed the roadway there. 

In the heavy rains on the night of July 8, one abutter’s driveway was damaged, eroding a section of the stone surface down the embankment toward the Herring River. On the sides of the bridge the embankments suffered deep erosion, sending sediment into the river.

The bridge remains under the jurisdiction of MassDOT, but Hooper said on Friday that his department repaired the abutter’s driveway.

After the first rain storm incident, Hooper said he met with a MassDOT project engineer to discuss the need for an additional catch basin at the bridge, but was told it would be “too expensive.” Hooper said he was told it would cost $59,000 to bring the project contractor, E.T.& L Corp., back to install another catch basin. 

Hooper said using the town’s catch basin contractor Robert B. Our Company would cost much less, but he did not know if MassDOT could do that based on the project contract.

“It’s happened twice, we can’t ignore it,” Hooper said of washouts, “but the cost should be on MassDOT, not the taxpayers of Harwich.”       

 Azalea Drive is a town right-of-way and the town will take ownership of the new bridge, but it has not yet been transferred from the commonwealth to the town, said Hooper. When that transaction takes place all of the maintenance of the bridge and road will fall to the town, he added.

Hooper praised the actual bridge improvements, saying that E.T. &L Corp. did an excellent job in the construction. MassDOT’s project engineer, Dylan Hipolito, has been very responsive, he added. Hooper said he anticipates a meeting with MassDOT officials this week to discuss the situation.