(Additional photograph below.)
Construction of a replacement for the aging and partially closed Rosemont Street bridge over Little River should get underway in early August.
Haverhill Public Works Director Robert E. Ward told WHAV the city is waiting on National Grid to reroute any electric cables and gas lines near the construction site, not far from Route 125 in the northern part of the city, before the demolition of the current bridge begins.
“I expect we will be ready to start work by the first or second week of August,” Ward said, adding construction will take several months.
Meanwhile, a new smaller bridge is being installed separately on one side of the old structure to carry utilities.
The Rosemont Bridge was built in 1934. As reported by WHAV state inspectors determined in 2017 it was “deficient” due to a cracking road surface, unstable concrete and steel pilings and broken railings. The city then installed jersey barriers on either side of the two-lane bridge to protect motorists. Bright yellow barrels of sand were added in 2020 to further reduce the width of the roadway.
The new bridge will be twice as long, 35 feet, 13 inches, to create a wider channel for water flow and wildlife migration. It will also be slightly wider, 32 feet, to meet current roadway standards.
Ward said the $4.5 million project cost is being paid from the city’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding and $500,000 in state Department of Transportation money.
The Snow Brook Bridge on North Avenue has also been on the deficiency list for as long as the Rosemont Street bridge. The $19 million project to replace that bridge is being managed by the state and, Ward said, is on the list to be replaced in two or three years. The project includes reconstruction of a two-mile stretch of North Avenue, including sidewalks and removal of Frye Pond Dam.
Barriers on both sides of the Rosemont Street bridge reduce stress on the structure by keeping vehicles away from the edges. (WHAV News photograph.)