Singing Bridge shut down

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For you trout bums and guys that chase the salmon out on the Wachusett reservoir..no more singing bridge over the Stillwater River...It's shut down now I guess. That's some of the best fresh water access in the state.

Saturday, December 24, 2005 Sterling bridge on life support

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STERLING— The sky wasn’t falling Wednesday night, but the Muddy Pond Road bridge was.

About 10 p.m., police received a call reporting pieces of the bridge falling into the Stillwater River below, according to Louis A. Manring, superintendent of the Department of Public Works. Within 10 minutes, Mr. Manring and his crew had inspected the bridge and closed it to all traffic, determining that a steel girder was damaged. A closer inspection Thursday determined that an intermediate girder had failed and the decking had started popping out, leaving an open grate and open waters straight below it.

The DPW decided to reopen one lane for car use, but vehicles weighing more than 20 tons, including firetrucks and school buses, will have to seek other routes. The bridge is on Muddy Pond Road, one of the town’s primary accesses to Interstate 190.

An engineer from the state Highway Department inspected the site and approved the DPW action.

The situation was not unexpected, according to Mr. Manring. The DPW has had it under close watch for more than eight years and it was slated for replacement in the spring. Despite the deterioration of the all-steel structure, built in 1951, the bridge had maintained a state approval rating for vehicles with single axles up to 17 tons, double axles up to 20 tons, and tractor-trailer trucks up to 32 tons.

He said the bridge weakened prematurely from routine use by vehicles exceeding those weight limits because of the bridge’s easy access to I-190.

“It’s not uncommon to see a 10-wheeler, a 35- to 40-ton truck, which is double the weight limit, or a pickup loaded with gravel, going over the bridge,” the superintendent said. “In fact, as we were closing it, a fully loaded cement truck came down the hill to use it.”

Muddy Pond Road Bridge is not a singular problem, Mr. Manring added. “Look around (Route) 140; almost every bridge has a lower weight limit than what is used. Trucks routinely exceed limits.”

A design for the replacement bridge has been completed and construction bids were opened Dec. 3. Construction is expected to begin in the spring.