The possible imposition of a 50,000-pound limit for a historic stone bridge on Benner Road in Bristol concerns at least one local business owner.
Paul Blomquist co-owns and operates Frick & Frack Firewood, headquartered on Sodom Road, which branches off Benner Road.
The Bristol Board of Selectmen has yet to decide whether to impose the Department of Transportation-recommended limit on Arch Bridge, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
A 50,000-pound limit “would isolate us with no way to stay in business,” Blomquist said in a Dec. 23 phone interview.
Blomquist expanded the business after inheriting it from a relative in 2001. In 2008, Damariscotta Hardware bought a majority interest in the operation.
Today, Frick & Frack is starting to recover from the effects of the recession. The company plans to relocate from Blomquist’s Sodom Road property in the future, but “we’re in no position” to do so now, he said.
Blomquist estimated 50 trips per year, all in his “log truck,” exceed the 50,000-pound mark.
Bremen has already imposed a weight limit on Fogler Road. If Bristol passes a weight limit for Arch Bridge, Frick & Frack could only haul heavy loads over Damariscotta-owned Lessner Road, a solution Blomquist calls inconvenient for the business and unfair to Damariscotta residents.
Blomquist also feels the posting of the bridge is “counterintuitive” to the current emphasis on economic development at the local, state and federal levels. The posting would place the operation and the five people it employs at risk, he said.
Blomquist said other local businesses, including Hanley Construction and Plummer Excavation, also use the bridge to transport heavy loads.
“I don’t think the bridge in its current condition is a long-term solution for Benner Town,” Blomquist said, applying the local designation for the residential area along Benner Road.
“It’s a wonderful old bridge,” Blomquist said, but the one-lane structure “isn’t terribly safe” for motorists.
Bristol Town Administrator Kristine Poland said the selectmen plan to “check with Damariscotta prior to making any decision” on the weight limit.
