Project Location: Town of Chester in Windsor County on VT Route 103 over Williams River and The Green Mountain Railroad. The bridge is located approximately 0.7 miles north of the junction of VT Route 103 and VT Route 10.

The Chester VT Route 103 Bridge 14 project will replace the existing bridge, which is considered structurally deficient, with a new bridge that meets current design standards. The existing bridge is a 4-span rolled beam bridge constructed in 1962. The existing bridge is 361-feet long and 35-feet wide. The bridge deck condition rating is a 4 (Poor), the superstructure rating is a 6 (Satisfactory), and substructure rating is a 5 (Fair).

VTrans evaluated alternatives for rehabilitation or replacement of Chester VT Route 103 Bridge 14 in an engineering study completed in July 2019. The study assessed the proposed design criteria for the bridge and roadway alignment, Right-of-Way impacts, hydraulics, railroad clearance, and utilities. Several alternatives were considered including deck replacement, superstructure replacement, and full bridge replacement.  Given the age of the structure and existing structural and geometric deficiencies, the engineering study recommended full bridge replacement with a new bridge with traffic maintained on a two-way temporary bridge during construction.

The new structure will have two 12-foot travel lanes with 10-foot shoulders to meet the minimum stabdards as set forth in the Vermont State Standards.  The number of spans of the new bridge will be determined in design.