Bridge & Culvert Preventative Maintenance Plan

The Town of Wrentham was awarded $50,000 to complete a road & stream crossing assessment and prioritization plan to prolong the life of these critical transportation assets.

Background

Extreme weather and natural and climate-related hazards are an increasing concern for the communities of Massachusetts. Participants at the MVP Community Resilience Building (CRB) workshops in Wrentham identified flooding as a significant challenge facing the Town. Culverts and bridges were designed to accommodate historical precipitation patterns and runoff. Still, as precipitation events become more intense and less predictable, undersized culverts are expected to pose a more significant threat of failure and flooding. Inadequate or undersized road-stream crossings can be flooding and washout hazards. They can have substantial impacts on the transportation system. Culverts can also serve as barriers to the passage of fish and other aquatic organisms along a river system, altering aquatic habitat and disrupting river and stream continuity.

Project Information

The Town of Wrentham is estimated to have approximately 100 road-stream crossings; around two-thirds are presumed to be owned by the Town. While the Town has information about particular culverts, bridges, and intersections that are known problems, the vulnerability of culverts and bridges as potential failure points still need to be systematically assessed town-wide.

Collectively, the risks associated with road-stream crossings threaten the transportation infrastructure and public safety. The senior population in Wrentham is recognized as being especially vulnerable to all types of climate change-induced hazards. Overtopped and flooded roads can also cut off access to emergency services, putting the entire community at risk. Thus, many drivers (economic, environmental, political, and social) are behind Wrentham's desire to pursue projects that will enhance the climate resiliency of their water infrastructure. 

This project will result in a comprehensive inventory and asset management prioritization plan for the Town's road-stream crossings (bridges/culverts). In addition, the project will include technical assessments on road-stream crossings, stormwater infrastructure, and associated climate change vulnerabilities. The assessments will consist of the review of relevant background information, studies, and mapping, as well as screening-level evaluations (using GIS data) and field data collection and analyses.