Money is not going as far as it used to, as the $600,000 in the town’s Bridge Program was once more than enough to do an entire bridge, but now is only half the cost.

A $600,000 appropriation from the Capital Improvement Plan for the bridge program received its final approval from the Legislative Council on August 2, after being approved by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance at previous meetings — but not before Public Works Director Fred Hurley noted the fact that the money wasn’t enough to cover the costs.

“It used to be $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 for a bridge ... now it’s $1.2 million,” said Hurley.

This year, the money will be put towards final design and permitting on the bridge on Brushy Hill, as well as paying for finishing expenses on Meadow Brook.

The Meadow Brook balance involves $20,000 in permitting fees, from the project that was finished last year.

The town will finish the work on Brushy Hill in the next Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), and the cost to do the actual replacement work “will not be a small number,” according to Hurley.

Next year, there is no new bonding in the CIP, and Hurley is seeing it as an opportunity to “take a breather,” and for the town to get “all its ducks in a row” towards future bridge work.

Since the bridge program started, the town has renovated 32 bridges, and still has ten bridges left to do. Once replaced or renovated, a bridge has an operational life of 50 or more years, and can last 75 to 80, so long as it is properly maintained with regular inspections and resurfacing.

“If we don’t pay proper attention, the life span could be shorter,” said Hurley. “Maintenance is not a huge investment; it’s just diligence and some money over time.”

Hurley was asked about the bridges at Deep Brook and Country Club Road, and Hurley replied that both bridges may be done as part of the culvert program, rather than part of the bridge program. Both are shorter bridges that have problems with water in the area.

He also said that Country Club Road would be “close to one of the last bridges we do,” since it is rarely used by most residents. Hurley also said that if the bridge is crumbling there could be interim measures that could be taken, such as steel plating the bridge, while it waits for its turn.

There are more than 42 bridges in town, but the rest are state owned, or what Hurley called “orphan bridges,” which are bridges on town roads that cross the river and are state maintained.

Hurley noted that four of the ten remaining bridges might be eligible for funding through state grants for small bridge replacement, which could save the town 40 to 50 percent of the cost.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.