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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">As many folks in Western Mass have seen recently, our bridges are having a moment of reckoning. Closures and detours are beginning to affect business and commerce, especially in the southern part
of the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">Do other regions in the Commonwealth run any kind of Transportation Asset Management scheme for their constituent communities? Our organization conducts pavement evaluation and management for towns
that elect to use our services, but nothing for bridges.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">Obviously, we’re not engineers and cannot judge the safety or integrity of bridges. But after they
<i>are</i> inspected and given their scores and ratings, it seems there should be some feedback loop that flags certain preservation and maintenance activities before the need to close the bridge arises, and the letter from MassDOT arrives. I think there is
currently a knowledge gap here in our region for locally owned bridges, and this is the niche that a regional TAMP could fill.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">Does anyone know of this being done in other Mass regions? I’ve been using FHWA
<a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/preservation/">bridge preservation guidance</a> to start educating myself on the topic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Raleway Medium"">Nick<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#44546A;mso-ligatures:none">Nicholas Russo, Senior Transportation Planner<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#44546A;mso-ligatures:none">1 Fenn St., Suite 201 | Pittsfield, MA 01201<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#44546A;mso-ligatures:none">O: 413.442.1521 x19<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><a href="mailto:nrusso@berkshireplanning.org"><span style="color:#0563C1">nrusso</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">@berkshireplanning.org</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><a href="http://www.berkshireplanning.org"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">www.berkshireplanning.org</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">
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