Southbound Lane About Half Done

Dateline: July 27, 2023

Construction continues on the southbound lane of the Route 28 bridge connecting Allenstown and Pembroke. The heavy rains of a few weeks ago raised havoc with the construction schedule. Water rose several feet and washed down trees and limbs so they became jammed against the bridge piers.

The bridge was shut down for a full day so that the EVROKS crane could get onto the northbound lane and remove all that debris. This resulted in much frustration for commuters who had to take the detour along Buck St. and Glass St. to the double decker bridge on Route 3. Unfortunately, Deerfield Rd. travelers could go north only by taking New Rye Rd. to Short Falls Rd. to Route 28.

This week, the onsite foreman took this writer on a short tour below the bridge. We made our way down a rough gravel path and wooden stairway to the downstream side of the bridge. A handmade sign warned of poison ivy nearby.

The foreman pointed out the array of steel spikes that had been installed by a team of scuba divers from New Jersey. The flood from the recent heavy rain storm did its damage, bent them over, and washed some spikes downstream. The spikes were part of a "coffer dam" and had been installed to support a waterproof tarp surrounding the bridge pier, and sand-bagged at the bottom. That structure would allow the water to be pumped out so workers could add extra concrete to reinforce the river-scoured bridge pier.

It was decided to continue work on the bridge deck until the river level dropped enough to allow the scuba divers to return and reconstruct the coffer dam.

Greg Tedeschi, District Construction Engineer for New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NH DOT) Construction Bureau, in a phone call this week estimated that the southbound lane was about half completed. Pre-stressed concrete pads were being installed followed by grids of green-painted rebar. Mr. Tedeschi said that repairs and reinforcements also needed to be done on the underside of the bridge, using a coffer dam.

Mr. Tedeschi estimated that the southbound lane might be open by October of this year, barring any unplanned setbacks.

What You Can Do

Be patient for a few more months. Plan a wait of several minutes especially northbound during commute time. While waiting in line, please be courteous to vehicles entering and exiting Deerfield Rd. and Buck St. by not blocking the intersection.