A group of South Bristol property owners who oppose a Department of Transportation-commissioned design for a new bridge over The Gut have proposed an alternative.
The department is seriously considering the alternative and its engineers are analyzing it for cost-effectiveness and reliability, among other factors, according to a post on the project website. The department plans to complete the review by the spring.
The alternative bridge is a drawbridge, like the state’s bridge, but is much more modest in scale.
The property owners group, the same group behind the “Build the Right Bridge” website, commissioned the Boston, Mass., firm Rosales + Partners Inc., to design the alternative bridge.
The firm claims the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, which carries I-93 over the Charles River in Boston, among several award-winning projects on its résumé.
According to Rosales + Partners, its “modified bascule” bridge for South Bristol is “lower, less massive and fits better in the historic site context” than the bridge proposed by the state.
The Rosales + Partners design eliminates the large concrete and steel arms and crossbeam present in the state-commissioned design by Clough, Harbour & Associates, LLP.
Those features serve as counterweights necessary for the European/Dutch-style heel trunnion bascule bridge. Rosales + Partners’ modified bascule would operate on a hydraulic cylinder system, which does not require the large counterweights.
The state’s bridge dwarfs the Rosales + Partners bridge in images showing the two structures in both the closed and open positions.
The document also includes aesthetic changes to the bridge-tender’s building, or what it calls the control gatehouse.
The “Build the Right Bridge” website and opponents of the bridge proposed by the state have said the Clough, Harbour & Associates design would “destroy the character of the village.”
Rutherford Island resident and business owner Beth Fisher said she and other concerned community members financed the alternative design.
“We are all trying to do what’s best for the town,” Fisher said.
The group wanted to give the community another option, which the state did not provide, she said. “Now there is a choice and we need to do what’s right for the community,” she said.
The size, scale, grace and beauty of the Rosales + Partners bridge all make it preferable to the state-proposed bridge, Fisher said. She said the Rosales + Partners bridge would gain historic status in time, due to the prestige of architect Miguel Rosales and his firm.
The alternative design was presented to the DOT at a Jan. 12 meeting attended by District 51 Rep. Mick Devin, South Bristol Board of Selectmen Chairman Chris Plummer, and other South Bristol residents and supporters of the alternative.
“We’re thrilled that the DOT is paying attention,” Fisher said. “We are absolutely delighted.”
She said the bridge could be built in the same time frame, if not a shorter time frame, than the state-proposed bridge, and for the same budget or less.
Rosales + Partners estimates the 50-year life-cycle cost for the bridge at $4.37 million, just short of the $4.43 million for the Clough, Harbour & Associates bridge.
Fisher said she and other supporters have received only positive feedback about the alternative design.
She said she believes the other bridge would devastate South Bristol’s economy. The existing swing bridge is “the iconic feature of the town” and its economic engine, she said.
Tourists visit South Bristol to admire it, she said, and return to vacation or even buy a home in the area.
If the state builds the Clough, Harbour & Associates bridge, “No one is going to come and no one is going to have work,” Fisher said.
Fisher declined to identify the other community members who contributed financially to the design. She said the effort has widespread support.
The Build the Right Bridge website encourages supporters to send an electronic form letter to government officials in support of the Rosales design.
“This design complements the village’s architecture and marine traditions, and preserves all cultural and scenic aspects that contribute to the character as well as the economy of the town,” according to the message.
As of press time, almost 400 people have sent the message.
South Bristol Chairman Plummer and Selectman Ken Lincoln said they do not object to the new design if it meets the state’s criteria and does not threaten funding or otherwise derail the project.