Repairs complete, route 106 now open in its entirety

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today made holiday travel a little easier for some as it reopened Route 106 through Weathersfield, which had been closed since Tropical Storm Irene struck nearly three months ago.

Irene severely damaged a segment of Route 106 very close to its junction with Route 131, where the storm completely obliterated about 450 feet of the roadway. Rushing floodwaters created a creator about 90-feet high that had to be rebuilt from the bank of the Black River up to the edge of the roadway. (See photo here)

“Rebuilding Route 106 through Weathersfield was a significant challenge,” said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles. “Raging floodwater basically ate away a very steep roadway embankment, which had to be completely replaced. We predicted months ago that we would reopen the road by Thanksgiving, and we met that deadline with a couple of hours to spare.”

Rebuilding Route 106 took considerable effort and involved dozens of dump trucks, bulldozers, backhoes, road graders and other earth-moving vehicles coordinated by Gurney Brothers Construction of North Springfield, VT. An estimated 100,000 cubic yards of rock and fill was used to rebuild the roadway.“Man and machine worked incredibly long hours for more than two months to rebuild Route 106,” Searles said. “Repairing the road in such a short time represents a tremendous accomplishment. We are very grateful for the hard work of all that were involved.”

“Man and machine worked incredibly long hours for more than two months to rebuild Route 106,” Searles said. “Repairing the road in such a short time represents a tremendous accomplishment. We are very grateful for the hard work of all that were involved.”

Questions regarding storm-damaged roads and bridges related to Tropical Storm Irene can be answered by calling VTrans’ Irene Storm Center at 1-800-Vermont. People can also visit VTrans’ website at www.aot.state.vt.us where they can follow the agency’s progress on both Facebook and Twitter.

Source: Vermont Agency of Transportation