ROCKINGHAM — Cold River Bridges of Walpole, N.H., was the unanimous choice of the Rockingham Selectboard to handle the reconstruction of the Lower Bartonsville Covered Bridge.
The Selectboard made their decision at a special meeting last Thursday.
Cold River Bridges submitted a bid of $1.2 million, which was the lowest of the four contractors that competed for the contract to rebuild the historic bridge that was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene last August.
The other contractors were Daniels Construction of Ascutney, Alpine Construction of Williamsville, and Wright Construction Co. of Mount Holly.
Phil Pierce from the engineering firm CHA Inc. of Albany, N.Y., told the board that the four bids were very similar to one another, and that the prices they quoted were 25 percent lower than the engineering estimates of $1.6 million.
Pierce said that Cold River Bridges had an edge because of its experience in covered-bridge construction and rehabilitation.
Jim Hollar, owner and founder of Cold River Bridges, said his company was founded four years ago after Frank W. Whitcomb Co. decided to get out of the bridge-building business. He told the Selectboard that he has been doing bridge work for 30 years, and has worked on 200 bridges in Vermont and New Hampshire. He also said that a majority of his employees are from the Bellows Falls area.
Hollar said his company would be assisted by Mike Renaud, of Renaud Brothers Inc. of Vernon, and by Benson Woodworking of Walpole, one of the top timber companies in the nation.
Work on the bridge should begin in July, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The Bartonsville Covered Bridge was built in 1870. It is the main link to the village of Lower Bartonsville. Record flooding on the Williams River caused by Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28, 2011, swept the bridge off its abutments and carried it downstream. A temporary one-lane metal bridge is in place.