City of North Hampton, MA Clement Street Bridge Rehabilitation

Northampton is positioned along the west side of the Connecticut River. The Mill River, a 13.5-mile tributary, meanders through the city primarily along its western boundary. The river gets its name from numerous mills that were established along its banks to harness waterpower in the early to mid-19th century.

Over time, several bridges were constructed over the Mill River. The Clement Street Bridge, a 94-foot-long single-span Pratt Truss, was originally built in 1894 and reconstructed in 1993. However, an inspection in December 2006 identified deficiencies in various critical truss members, impacting the overall integrity of the bridge.

GPI supplied engineering design services for structural repairs to the Clement Street Bridge on behalf of the City of Northampton. Replacement of the lower chord members, specifically the deteriorated eye bar plates, was a major part of the design. The project involved disassembling truss panel points to replace the lower eye bar plates. The replacement was performed with the road closed, using temporary supports to maintain truss integrity. GPI also contributed to developing a bid package for replacing the wearing surface. They performed on-site resident engineering services during construction, which included setting up a temporary truss support system, drilling holes in the field, making sidewalk repairs, and milling and paving the deck.