Irene -- Please use this thread for NH/VT/ME road closures

[RoySwkr]

Oooh! That's not bad at all! That's not bridge, that's approach. The water got behind the abutment (end of the bridge) and washed out under the roadway. Assuming the abutment did not move and the rest of the bridge is in good shape (likely, given everyone's walking on it), this could be as easy as driving sheet piling, backfilling, casting a new approach slab, and paving it.

They won't even need an approach slab, that bridge didn't have one

Is that the Sawyer River bridge, the geometry doesn't look right to me?

 

[David Metsky]

This thread has the latest road closing information for New England.

 

[snoshoovt]

Vernont destruction

I assume anyone on this site is pretty aware of the situation in Vermont. Amazingly, some of the trailhead access roads are passible, but many are not and the bigger problem, especially for those coming from afar, is getting to those. 511vt.com shows most of the state road closures, but many of the local roads are washed out and it's been overwhelming to be able to show all of those. I believe VTrans and others are working with Google on a way to show all the local road closures and this may be up soon, but for the time being, do not assume that any of the Vermont high mountain trailheads are accessible without careful checking of the 511 site, the Green Mountain Club, and with local town clerks or highway departments. Unfortunately, for a while at least, it's probably a good time to hike elsewhere. Same goes for anything in the Keene Valley ADK area, for sure.
The state and local authorities and local communities have been amazing in their response, but the task is pretty overwhelming in a lot of areas, so act accordingly.
John

 

[snoshoovt]

Vermont destrucion

Sorry, that's 511.vt.gov

 

[Orphic Seth]

Any word on the Ravine Lodge Rd. to Moosilauke? Sometimes it doesn't get included in Forest Service lists. Thanks

 

[DougPaul]

Any word on the Ravine Lodge Rd. to Moosilauke? Sometimes it doesn't get included in Forest Service lists. Thanks

See http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/conditions/roads_status.php

Doug

 

[bandana4me]

Jefferson Notch Road

I talked to someone from the forest service on Monday (at the gate) and he stated that he doubts the road will re-open this year.

The bridge at Upper Falls has no railings and the area was roped offed and closed.

 

[TDawg]

LOON Bridge

Well it was hanging on til' this morning, but despite efforts to shore it up the LOON Mtn. bridge has collapsed.

Edit: The resort side of the river can still be accessed by the South Mountain bridge in town.

 

[MichaelJ]

Really? That shallow abutment was just sitting on underminable soil? Oy vey, go slap the original design engineer.
Fortunately it looks like a simple span, they may be able to just replace from the middle pier to the side and keep the rest.

On a happier note, it looks like water flows are waaaaay down, which should make repairs here and elsewhere considerably easier.

 

[TDawg]

Really? That shallow abutment was just sitting on underminable soil? Oy vey, go slap the original design engineer.

I was thinking the same thing with only a minimal understanding on bridge engineering. I'll bet they get in a big one on the rebuild!

 

[Rivet]

From the NBI database:

State: NH
Place Name: Lincoln (Town of)
County: Grafton
NBI Structure Number: 014802120015100
Route Sign Prefix: Other
Facility Carried: LOON MOUNTAIN ROAD
Feature Intersected: E BR PEMIGEWASSET RIVER
Location: 315 FT FROM NH RTE 112
Year Built: 1966
Reconstructed: 1989
RecordType: Roadway is carried ON the structure
Owner: City or Municipal Highway Agency
Highway Agency District: 01
Maintenance Responsibility: City or Municipal Highway Agency
Functional Class: Local, Rural
Service On Bridge: Highway-pedestrian
Service Under Bridge: Waterway
Latitude: 44 03 24.81 N
Longitude: 71 38 00.97 W
Material Design: Steel
Design Construction: Stringer/Multi-beam or Girder
Approach Material Design: Other
Approach Design Construction: Other
Structure Length (m): 83.5
Approach Roadway Width (m): 12.2
Lanes on Structure: 3
Average Daily Traffic: 2000
Year of Average Daily Traffic: 2006
Design Load: M 18
Scour: Bridge is scour critical; bridge foundations determined to be unstable for assessed or calculated scour conditions:
Bridge Railings: Meet currently acceptable standards.
Historical Significance: Bridge is possibly eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (requires further investigation before determination can be made) or bridge is on a State or local historic register.
# of Spans in Main Structure: 3
Bridge Median: No Median
StructureFlared: No flare
Transitions: Meets currently acceptable standards.
Approach Guardrail: Meets currently acceptable standards.
Approach Guardrail Ends: Does not meet currently acceptable standards.
Navigation Control: No Navigation Control on waterway (bridge permit not required).
Structure Open?: Open, no restrictions
Deck: Good Condition
Superstructure: Very Good Condition
Substructure: Fair Condition
Structural Evaluation: Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is
Sufficiency Rating (%): 57.0

 

[MichaelJ]

FYI, the list of road closures is updated every day or so, each time there's a new link to a new PDF document. This means the information in the first post of this thread is already out of date. You should go to

http://www.nh.gov/readynh/

and under the "News and Events" section simply find the most recent Road Closures document.

Fortunately, the document seems to be getting progressively shorter each day.

 

[bobandgeri]

The Forest Service has created an initial list of known roads and locations that must remain closed due to compromised access and safety. You can access the list by going to:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/conditions/


One item of interest to us anyways is that the AMC website and customer service say that the 19 Mile Brook trail is passable (2 bridges are out), but it is listed as closed on the Forest Service site. When I called the AMC they confirmed that the caretaker for Carter Hut had been in this morning confirming the trail is open. Hmmm - whom to beleive?

 

[TDawg]

Interesting, so they knew the bridge was weak in that area.

I looked up the 302 bridge @ Sawyer River. If it was indeed that bridge that washed, it was in good shape @ last inspection.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Sorry if I missed this...

but I've been scanning through here and can't determine:

Is Rte. 16 open from Jackson to Gorham yet? Can I assume it is as it is no longer on the list?

Is 113 open through Evans Notch? I see Wild River CG is closed, but is the Basin and other CGs open?

Any info on Grafton Notch? Is it accessible? (I know it's in Maine)

Thanks and sorry if this info is somewhere I didn't see...

KDT

 

[dclynch]

Rt 16 is open, but with some temporary repairs and narrowed spots. I imagine there will be delays, especially this weekend.

According to NH DOT, Bear Notch Road is open to the Kanc, which is open from there to Rt 16.

 

[MichaelJ]

Grafton Notch *was* listed as closed at http://www.511maine.gov/ and is no longer, so it's almost surely now open.

113 isn't listed, so it's likely open; I don't recall ever seeing it closed.

Rte 302 still has a lot of problems; I don't know how far west of Bartlett you can go (certainly not further than Fourth Iron). Yesterday it was closed at Attitash, which is east of BNR.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Ok

Think I've got it all figured out, thanks!

KDT

 

[bobandgeri]

Rt 16 is open, but with some temporary repairs and narrowed spots. I imagine there will be delays, especially this weekend.

According to NH DOT, Bear Notch Road is open to the Kanc, which is open from there to Rt 16.

Where do you see that? I still see Rte 112 (Kanc) closed from Lincoln to Conway on NHDOT and Bear Notch Road closed on the Ready NH site?

 

[rup]

The 'wade' across the Straton Pond Dam should be interesting. And there are a few brooks to cross on the way into Abe. I remember seeing signs of flood debree along the access road - which follows and crosses a brook.