Why has the 40-year-old temporary Rourke Bridge in Lowell not been replaced?
LOWELL - There are hundreds of bridges in Massachusetts that need to be repaired or replaced. The Rourke Bridge in Lowell, for example, was supposed to be taken down decades ago. Curious about its fate, and concerned about its structural integrity, a couple of viewers reached out to WBZ for answers.
Marlene in Lowell asked: "Could you please look into why it hasn't been replaced? My husband will not allow me to drive over it for fear of collapse!"
As our drone glides above the Merrimack River with leaves bursting in color, you see the beauty and the beast. It's the infamous Rourke Bridge in Lowell. A loud, rattling steel bridge that just turned 40 years old.
If you're near it, you can hear the crashing of metal plates as cars drive over; 27,000 cars per day.
"I think it sounds like a marching band," said Timothy Collins, an iron worker from Lowell. He has worried about the bridge for years. A while back, on a stroll along the Merrimack, he stopped under the bridge and saw something he didn't like.
"I was taking a walk with my wife one day and being an iron worker, I looked up at the bridge," Collins said. "For me it looked like it was in a state of disrepair." Collins posted some pictures on Facebook showing rust and holes.
"My wife traverses this bridge daily. She works at a nursing facility on the other side. We live on this side of the bridge. She has a thing where every day when she leaves work, when she gets to that side, she calls me and she doesn't get off the phone with me until she makes it safe to the other side," Collins said.
Here's the thing about the Rourke Bridge, it's not supposed to be here. It's a "temporary" bridge built four decades ago. When the Army Corps of Engineers built this bridge back in 1983 it was only supposed to last four or five years. Today, 27,000 vehicles pass over the bridge daily. That's 10 million a year and so many drivers will tell you they grip that steering wheel extra tight.
One driver, a priest, told me about his experiences. "You feel some vibration and a bumpy ride, and you say your prayer until you get over the bridge," he said.
Interestingly, and coincidentally, Timothy Collins had a similar response. "I do know that people do the sign of the cross coming over this bridge more than they do at St. Patrick's on Sunday morning," Collins said.
MassDOT began studying how to replace the Rourke 10 years ago.
In that time, inspectors have rated parts of the bridge "fair" and other parts "satisfactory." But the Rourke has not been deemed "structurally deficient" by MassDOT. "Structurally deficient" is a title given to 8% of all bridges in Massachusetts, that's more than 400 bridges. Fourteen million cars cross a structurally deficient bridge every day. The state says those bridges are safe but have one major component with serious problems.
MassDOT plans to spend more than $3 billion on bridges over the next few years thanks to infrastructure money from the federal government.
Of course, the price of repairs can climb as years go by. Lowell City Councilor Daniel Rourke has seen that firsthand with the bridge in Lowell. "When we first talked about it we talked about, we had talked about $45-50 million. It quickly ballooned to 70 (million), then 112 (million). Now we are at $200 million for a complete new bridge."
But now it's happening. There are actual design plans and renderings of what a new bridge, just up the river, will look like. Four lanes of traffic. Bike lanes. Walkways and seating overlooking the river.
The plan is to start construction in 2025 and be completed by 2028. The bridge will also be built with federal money and some state money as well.
So, maybe in 2028, drivers won't have to say a prayer that they'll be safe.
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