Bridge #9 on Route 9 in town of Bennington closed to one lane

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) announced Thursday evening that bridge #9 on Route 9, in the Town of Bennington, just past Barney Road heading east, has been closed to one lane of traffic after bridge inspectors determined there was scouring of one of the supporting piers.
VTrans has been conducting additional rounds of bridge inspections after debris has been removed and some of these inspections are revealing additional damage to the bridges. ‘The bridge inspector advised that we close the bridge to one lane due to the scouring that they found, so we are closing the east lane of the bridge until repairs can be made,’ said Rich Tetreault, VTrans Chief Engineer. ‘We are inspecting bridges throughout the affected areas as necessary to ensure the safety of the traveling public, which may mean multiple inspections on the same bridge as conditions change,’ continued Tetreault.
This particular bridge had a lot of debris piled up against one of the piers. Once this debris was removed, underwater bridge inspectors were able to provide a comprehensive inspection of the pier. Some scouring was detected and to ensure the safety of the public, VTrans closed the bridge to one lane starting Thursday evening. Signals will be installed on either side of the bridge for traffic control and repairs to the bridge could take four weeks or longer.
VTrans. 9.29.2011