Deteriorating NH-Vt bridge closed

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New Hampshire transportation officials have closed a historic bridge connecting Walpole, N.H., and Bellows Falls, Vermont.

Transportation Department spokesman Bill Boynton says the Vilas Bridge over the Connecticut River was closed Friday after a routine inspection found continued deterioration of the bridge deck. Even foot traffic is banned.

The bridge was built in 1930. It has been on the New Hampshire’s Red List of troubled bridges for more than 20 years.

Boynton says about 4,600 vehicles a day cross the bridge. Drivers will have to detour to another bridge, less than a mile upstream.

The state was planning to rehabilitate the bridge in 2015. Engineers will study whether it should be replaced, and whether the work can be done earlier.

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