Maintenance for now. But $40M Bass River Bridge rebuild in Yarmouth, Dennis future

SOUTH YARMOUTH — The Bass River Bridge has served as a vital transportation link on Cape Cod for nearly 90 years, connecting West Dennis and South Yarmouth along the traffic-choked Route 28 corridor since the mid-1930s.

But nine decades of use doesn’t come without serious wear and tear. A quick peek beneath the bridge reveals crumbling concrete pilings, exposed rebar and chipped crossmembers — while up top, hundreds of cars drive over the cracked concrete deck each day.

The bridge was classified as structurally deficient and considered in poor condition by the Federal Highway Administration in November 2021, according to data provided by the agency.

Due to these structural deficiencies, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will perform maintenance on the bridge from January through May, with a $40 million project to completely replace it scheduled for bidding this year, officials said.

Maintenance work comes first in Bass River bridge

Jeffrey Colby, the director of public works for the town of Yarmouth, said maintenance will include “significant” work on the underside concrete slabs and pilings and the deck, extensively reinforcing the bridge until the time comes when construction can commence on the total replacement.

“I want people to know what they're doing out there today, and up until Memorial Day, is not starting the replacement project, that's not the case,” Colby said. “It is maintenance to get the current structure through until it can be replaced.”

Colby said he doesn’t expect replacement construction to begin until spring 2025.

“They are still scheduled to go out to bid to completely replace the bridge this fall,” he said. “There's a several month time period in which bidders are responding, then there’s the award process, and that type of thing takes a while with MassDOT projects.”

Traffic delays will be intermittent, state says

Most of the repairs will be done below the roadway surface, which will mean minimal impacts on traffic. Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman John Goggin said in an email. Traffic delays will only “occur intermittently and will be announced in advance," he said.

“Beyond typical road surface maintenance, reinforced concrete deck repairs will be performed to the underside of the existing deck slab as well as selective pile repairs,” Goggin said. “These are necessary to remove the existing barriers from the bridge and facilitate construction phasing.”

Replacement

The bridge is safe in its current state, but structural deficiencies are better handled in the long term by replacing it rather than continued maintenance, Goggin said.

“A bridge replacement project is the most efficient method of eliminating these deficiencies,” Goggin said. “It will also improve other non-structural features of the bridge like lane configurations, sidewalks and railings.”

Work on the bridge will not be done in summer

Colby said the replacement project will take place in phases, the first being the replacement of half of the bridge, maintaining traffic flow on the other portion, then replacing the other half. Pedestrian and bike traffic will also continue throughout construction, he said.

“They are committed to keeping two lanes of traffic open on that bridge nearly all times,” Colby said. “If there's an opportunity to go down to one lane or alternating traffic, they'll have to let us know about that.”

No maintenance or construction will be done during the summer, Colby said.

“They're not allowed to work or impact traffic throughout that period, that’s why they have the timing of this repair work,” he said. “Doing work in January is not ideal, but they have to have things done before Memorial Day.”

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Battered Bass River Bridge between Dennis, Yarmouth in $40M plan