LIVERMORE FALLS — The select board chose Sevee & Maher Engineers Inc. to work on the Norris Bridge project, the next step in fixing significant structural deficiencies.

The board’s 3-1 vote May 19 moves only the design and engineering phase forward and does not obligate the town to proceed with construction, Town Manager Carrie Castonguay confirmed after the meeting.

Castonguay said the next step and timeline will not be clear until she signs the contract and meets with the engineers.

Castonguay said the town received what she called a “bad bridge letter” from the Maine Department of Transportation on May 8, 2024. She said the bridge had been inspected every other year, but is on a yearly inspection cycle because of its condition.

Castonguay said a January 2025 inspection showed some ratings had decreased. Some ratings were fours and sixes, she said, with four classified as poor and six as satisfactory.

“Because we had the fours, that’s why they say that we need to think about doing something with this,” Castonguay told the board.

The engineering work also followed reviews after the December 2023 flooding, when Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives inspected areas with significant issues and identified the bridge as a potential mitigation project, Castonguay said.

“So this is the first step, is getting the engineering and the design,” she said.

The town previously approved using $15,818.41 from the capital improvement reserve account as its required match for FEMA funding for Norris Bridge design and engineering work. FEMA, through coordination with the Maine Emergency Management Agency, awarded the town $47,458.21 to cover 75% of the $63,277.62 cost for design and engineering.

The work includes a hydrology study, preliminary and final designs, and construction permitting, and could make the town eligible for additional construction funding.

At the Aug. 5, 2025, meeting, Castonguay said delaying the project could risk collapse or closure and leave the road dead-ended on both sides, eliminating the traffic loop in that area.

The bridge has been discussed by town officials for years. A 2008 Sun Journal article reported that town officials had been alerted that the bridge was in fair to poor condition and needed repair. The bridge, built in 1961, is off Route 106 near the Leeds line and spans Scott Brook, according to that report.

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