CONWAY — In the wake of the indefinite closure of Bardwell’s Ferry Bridge, which spans the Deerfield River and connects the town to Shelburne, town officials plan to reach out to the state to see if it can provide assistance.

At Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting, board members discussed sending a letter to the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) laying out the challenges caused by the bridge’s closure, as well as the potential financial impact of replacing the deteriorated beams on Conway’s side. While the bridge connects the two towns, the deterioration is on Conway’s approach to the bridge, making it Conway’s responsibility to fix it if MassDOT cannot provide support.

Highway Superintendent Ron Sweet presented a preliminary and “really rough estimate” of $374,000 from Gill Engineering to replace the beams, which he emphasized is in materials alone and doesn’t include engineering or other associated construction costs with the project.

“The intent of this number was to give me a idea of what we’re looking at. … This ain’t even the bare minimum,” Sweet said. “In order for this to even move forward, someone’s got to do engineering of how to fix it.”

Town Administrator Veronique Blanchard described it as an “introductory letter to DOT saying we need help” and their original minimum estimate for the repairs would be $500,000.

“The one thing I’d agree on is this number is too low,” commented Selectboard member Chris Waldo. “I think it’s going to go well above $500,000.”

MassDOT closed the bridge on Aug. 24 following a routine inspection that found “deterioration of the weathering steel beams,” as well as “significant deteriorated and section loss on the beams,” agency spokesperson John Goggin said at the time. Pedestrians and bikes are still able to use the bridge.

The 198-foot bridge was previously closed in the 1990s and Selectboard Chair Philip Kantor said the last major repairs were completed in 1995. The bridge was also closed for a period in 1997 when a truck driver smashed into it.

While $500,000 is already a tough financial ask for the town and its residents, the potential costs come at a time when the town of approximately 1,700 residents is dealing with millions of dollars worth of damage resulting from July rainstorms.

The town — as well as Deerfield, which was also devastated by the storms — did not meet the federal damage threshold for emergency funding and any sort of aid would have to come from the state Legislature. The prospects of that aid coming through, at least to Kantor, are low.

“I’m so cynical and down on the state right now; it never works out for us. They’ll authorize a report and a study and say, ‘You’re on your own buddy,’” Kantor said, noting that MassDOT has been the exception to the rule when it comes to state aid for Conway.

The Bardwell’s Ferry Bridge is the second bridge that MassDOT has closed in town in the last calendar year. The agency closed a bridge on North Poland Road due to safety concerns in November 2022 and quickly erected a temporary bridge in February 2023, so residents were able to cross Poland Brook.

Sweet emphasized that MassDOT is a different branch of the state government than the Legislature and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), and it “has been helpful” to Conway in the past, so reaching out can’t hurt.

“I’m pretty sure MassDOT already understands Conway can’t afford it,” Sweet said. “It’s more of, ‘Let’s put in a request for help between Conway and Shelburne and see where that step takes us.’”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.