WILTON – A trestle bridge over Cemetery Road has been knocked about 6 to 8 inches off its pad, again. Last month, it had been knocked off in the opposite direction.

Both jolts have been caused by oversized trucks going under the trestle that is posted for 11 feet clearance.

State authorities are looking into ways to make the overpass safer for people who may be traveling on the rail-trail above.

A cement truck hit the bridge in September and the jolt moved it 4 to 6 inches off its pads. Last week, a truck hauling an excavator struck the bridge and pushed the side that had been off back in place but left the opposite side askew.

Scott Ramsay, Department of Conservation director of the Off Road Vehicle Division, said in the past the trestle, even though the road is posted for “no trucks,” has been hit about once every three years.

But with two times in a month, Ramsay said, he is worried that a pedestrian walking or someone riding on the trestle, which spans 30 feet across the road, could be knocked off the bridge if they’re on it when it is hit.

The trestle is part of a 14.5-mile trail that runs from Jay to Wilton and is seeing more use each year by recreationists.

The jolts have bent the steel beams and jarred the stones in the foundation, Ramsay said.

And though he could not blame it solely on the last two hits by Haley Construction and Northeast Paving trucks, the main beam has been cracked, Ramsay said.

The repeated hitting has loosened all the structure, he said.

Wilton police officer Ed Leahy said the town of Wilton has no ordinance for police to enforce the “no truck” signs or the height clearance signs. All the department has the authority to do, he said, is issue a summons if a trucker leaves the scene of the accident.

Ramsay said the conservation department had been looking at removing that section of bridge and replacing the thick beams with thinner beams to raise the clearance a couple feet. The thicker beams are no longer needed, he said, because trains do not cross the trestle.

“We thought we hit a gold mine,” Ramsay said, “by getting the National Guard to do the project. We thought for a fairly small amount of money we could raise the clearance and make the bridge safer.”

But with the war in Iraq that changed, he said, with the National Guard being so busy.

The conservation department is looking at getting the trucking companies that have caused the damage to help pay for the remodeling of it.

Ramsay said he is going to try to set up a meeting with selectmen and Town Manager Peter Nielsen and “see what they feel we should do.”

A crane would be needed to lift the steel beams that weigh and estimated 20-ton, Ramsay said.

It’s a money issue right now, Ramsay said, and the department is struggling with money. If the National Guard did it, the department would only have to buy cement and wood. Already, $1,000 has been paid to an engineer to design the project.

“We thought we would get out of it for $5,000,” Ramsay said. “But if we have to hire a crane …it could be up to $20,000.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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