Cheshire Bridge rehab could close vital Connecticut River crossing for 34 weeks
A 34-week shutdown of the Cheshire Bridge would push Charlestown-Springfield traffic to crossings 10 miles away and add 3,700 commuting hours a month.
Bridge #135/052 carries NH Route 11 over the Connecticut River between Charlestown and Springfield. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation had the Cheshire Bridge rehab in design, and the work was expected to require the span to close for a period of time. The project would include steel superstructure repairs, painting and substructure concrete repairs, and it flagged possible effects on cultural and historic resources that could be eligible for or listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
NHDOT held a public officials meeting in Charlestown on Feb. 21, 2024, and returned on May 15 to discuss a modified traffic-control plan. The closure was a 34-week shutdown scheduled to begin in April 2025. About 50 people turned out for one of the local meetings.
Brian Boardman, senior vice president of operations at Whelen Engineering, estimated that the Charlestown company has 285 employees who live in Vermont and that, over 22 workdays, detours could add as much as 213,000 miles and 3,700 hours of commuting time. He said the nearest Connecticut River crossings to Charlestown are roughly 10 miles away, either north between Claremont and Ascutney or south between Walpole and Bellows Falls. Bob Beaudry of Beaudry Enterprise Inc. said the shutdown would add well over an hour to a twice-daily fueling trip for the company’s 25-truck fleet.
Periklis Karoutas, working with Legislative Solutions through the Charlestown Economic Development Association, said the group was seeking a two-year delay while an alternative was identified. A temporary bridge was estimated at $6 million, the same ballpark as the state cost for the rehab itself. New Hampshire was covering an estimated $6 million for the work.
The Cheshire Bridge Corporation was chartered in 1804, a wooden bridge opened in 1806, a covered bridge followed in 1831-1833 and the first steel bridge went up in 1896-1897. The current iron bridge was built in 1930 by the McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh and rehabilitated again in 1992.
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