State leaders to gather input on upcoming Mile Hill Bridge project

LACONIA — An estimated $2.6 million project to replace deteriorated parts of Mile Hill Bridge is slated to start in the summer of 2027, and a public information session is being held Monday, at City Hall, to fill in the public about the details.

“Even though it is a U.S. route and state route, it goes through someone’s town, so we try to get everyone up to speed,” said John Stockton, in-house design section chief of the Bureau of Bridge Design. “The construction will affect them more than anyone else.”

The project involves rehabilitation of the bridge that takes U.S. 3 and Route 11 over Mile Hill Road, which will include replacing the existing superstructure and bridge deck. The intention is to maximize its life, while minimizing its life cycle cost and maintaining what the state describes as an “efficient transportation network."

State staff are also planning minor road work, which will include pavement milling and overlay outside the work limits of the project.

Stockton said this project specifically focuses on the bridge deck and concrete beams in need of replacement.

“The deck is deteriorated and the beams have some deterioration, as well,” Stockton said. “We don’t want to put a brand new deck on top of beams with deterioration, so we will do it both at once, to not disrupt traffic more than once.”

The state has an asset management schedule, and roughly every 20 years, staff perform upgrades to components of the bridges in their inventory. Stockton said the state replaces bridge expansion joints after 20 years, as this tends to be their life expectancy, and then they are replaced on an ongoing maintenance schedule.

Repairs are generally done on a concrete bridge deck after 40 years, and then at the 60-year mark, the state looks at the bridge deck itself, it tends to wear out at this point.

“This bridge is about 60 years old, so part of our normal upgrading process was a deck replacement,” Stockton said.

When a bridge hits the 120-year mark, it is completely replaced, and installing a brand new deck on Mile Hill Bridge will get it there.

Stockton said the state has been tracking issues with the bridge, and at the end of 2025, decided it was a good time to replace the beams. Replacing the deck was already in the works. State inspectors look at bridges every two years, and Stockton said they thought the repair of both aspects simultaneously was prudent.

“The maintenance and preservation work is designed to keep our good and fair condition bridges in good and fair condition, to prevent them from falling into poor condition,” Stockton said.

McFarland Johnson, a multidisciplinary firm in Concord, is responsible for the engineering work.

The project will be advertised in October, and construction is slated for summer 2027. Stockton said the state will ask for bids, and this timeframe gives the state time to award the contractor, and then for the contractor to gather the proper materials and prepare for the job.

At the meeting, citizens and city leaders can ask questions about the project, ensuring it meets local public transportation needs, community goals, and protects and enhances the environment.

The meeting is open to the public, and will take place at at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 11, at City Hall downtown.