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LIVERMORE FALLS — The Select Board on Aug. 5 approved using $15,818.41 from the town’s capital improvement reserve account to match a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for engineering work on the Norris Bridge off Strickland Road.

Town Manager Carrie Castonguay said the bridge has “significant structural deficiencies” and FEMA, through coordination with the Maine Emergency Management Agency, awarded the town $47,458.21 to cover 75% of the $63,277.62 for design and engineering. The work includes a hydrology study, preliminary and final designs and construction permitting, and make the town eligible for additional construction funding.

The board voted 4-1 to approve the match.

Castonguay noted the bridge must be at least 20 feet long for the Maine Department of Transportation to assume responsibility. The current span is about 14 feet.

Delaying the project, she said, risks the bridge’s collapse and could result in the road being dead-ended on both sides, eliminating the traffic loop in that area.

 

Rebecca Richard is a reporter for the Franklin Journal. She graduated from the University of Maine after studying literature and writing. She is a small business owner, wife of 32 years and mom of eight...