Work is underway to build a new 87-foot-long, 4-foot-wide bridge over Mill Brook that will connect Irasville to the valley’s recreational trails.

The bridge project is being led by Bob Kogut, Mad River Riders, as part of the Mad River Recreation Hub at the Localfolk Smokehouse at the intersection of Routes 17/100. The Riders are leading this project, which is part of the $406,000 Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative grant awarded to a coalition of local groups in 2022. This coalition includes the Mad River Valley Recreation District, the Mad River Riders, Friends of the Mad River, the Mad River Chamber of Commerce and others.

Kogut explained that the bridge project involves several parts, including digging foundation holes for the bridge piers on the wooded side of the bridge. The bridge will span Mill Brook from the field side of the Localfolk Smokehouse to the wooded side on the opposite bank, land owned by the Laskowski family.

A no-rise analysis was conducted as part of the permits for the bridge, which aim to minimize the structure’s impacts in the floodplain during floods. Kogut explained that this study identified a bridge on thin posts as the least disruptive structure for flood events – compared to a foundation of concrete blocks that could block water flow.

Today, August 8, Kogut and volunteers will work with Montpelier-based construction company Techno Metal Post to install the screw piles/posts that the bridge will be bolted to on the woods side of the creek.

Kogut said he and volunteers would bring bags of concrete to the site today. There will be two piers on that side, both in 6-foot-deep holes, one of which Kogut has already dug.

Organizers had planned to continue work on site on Saturday, August 10, but due to the weather forecast for Vermont and New England, that plan was postponed to Sunday, August 11.

“On Sunday, depending on the weather, we will mix and pour concrete on the forest side to create the two ground-level foundation pillars,” said Kogut.

The custom-built arched truss bridge that will span the creek will be delivered on a flatbed truck from South Carolina on August 28 by Bridge Brothers, the manufacturer.

“It will be delivered in two pieces on a flatbed truck and a crane will come at the same time. We have to build a scaffold and the crane will lift the pieces onto it and we will bolt the halves together to make a long, 87-foot bridge,” Kogut said.

“When that’s done, the crane will lift the whole thing and swing it into position while we guide it and place it on a 5-foot platform on the field side and the concrete slabs on the forest side. It will be bolted into place. After that, we’ll work on the ceiling,” Kogut said.

Volunteers and others will install the decking made from robinia, a new, low-maintenance wood that is popular with outdoor recreationists.

“After that, we will work on the ramp on the field side, which will also be 27 meters long and will extend across the field,” he said.

The bridge is 4 feet wide and suitable for adaptive riders, although it is not officially ADA compliant as this would have required recesses for rest areas along the bridge.

According to Kogut, the bridge and its associated infrastructure cost about $228,000, including site work and parking.