A bridge crossing Walker Creek near the 330 block of Concord Street in Gloucester will likely undergo an estimated $1 million worth of repairs next year.
“The Concord Street bridge has been deteriorating for years now,” said Jim Destino, chief administrative officer for the city. “Even though it’s a small bridge, it needs a lot of work.”
While the four- to five-month process of choosing a design for the bridge has yet to begin, Public Works Director Mike Hale said construction could begin as early as the end of next spring.
He also said construction will last at least several months.
“There will likely have to be traffic delays because it's essentially a one-lane bridge, but it’s a once in a generation construction,” Hale said. “This work won’t be done (on this bridge) again in anyone's lifetime.”
The bridge, which connects Essex's Conomo Point to Gloucester's Sumner Street, was constructed in the early 1900s and later rebuilt in 1972. Changing tides have eroded the bridge over the years so much so that it was recently shored up.
Hale said some of the embankment surrounding the bridge can still be salvaged, but most of the embankment and the surface of the bridge need to be redone.
“It would be a significant rebuild,” Hale said.
The city has received about $500,000 from the MassDOT Municipal Small Bridge Program, which provides money to preserve, replace and rehabilitate small bridges in cities and towns across the state.
The City Council last week sent a loan authorization request for the $1 million needed to make the repairs or replace the bridge to its Budget and Finance Subcommittee.
Gloucester Chief Financial Officer John Dunn said it is too early in the project to know what its tax impact will be.
