The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Aging Chatfield Hollow Bridge in Killingworth dismantled
Construction expected to start late summer
KILLINGWORTH — With a huge claw doing most of the work, a backhoe dismantled the aging Chatfield Hollow covered bridge March 4 and to make room for an identical structure to take its place.
Two years after the state initiated a plan to take a close look at the dilapidated covered bridge, with its deteriorating roof, loose footboards and rotting, buckling floorboards, it was determined that replacing it was necessary.
The bridge has been closed to foot traffic since December 2022.
A local group who pushed for getting the bridge replaced is pleased with the plans, but they say that more work needs to be done at the park.
“With repeated storms and the continued degradation of the condition of the bridge structure, DEEP needed to demolish and remove the timber portion of the bridge before it fell into the water,” said Paul Copleman, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesperson.
“The removal was a proactive step towards a replacement project still planned for fall 2024,” he said.
At this time the cost of the bridge replacement is unknown.
Chatfield Hollow was designated as a state park in 1949. The exact date of when the bridge was built is unknown.
Copleman outlined the process of rebuilding the bridge that crosses the Chatfield Hollow Brook.
This includes extensive and thorough documentation of the previous bridge structure and replacement identical to the removed bridge.
Included in construction are upgrades to allow for ADA accessibility, lowered windows to allow for more outward viewing from within the bridge span and raised superstructure atop new stone stamped abutments to provide resiliency through extreme weather events.
The new bridge will be built to re-establish previously existing stream flow and public access to trail head.
Cheryl Buckley has been visiting the state park since 1978 and brought the matter to the attention of the state in the hopes of getting the bridge repairs completed. She has been working on this project for seven years.
“Year after year, I kept taking pictures and sending it in, but at that point there was no money allocated to state parks, so it wasn’t fixed, it wasn’t maintained,” this Guilford resident said.
Buckley is one of some 3,000 people that call themselves Friends of Chatfield Hollow and have a Facebook group of the same name.
“Friends of Chatfield Hollow have been so instrumental in advocating for this and making sure that not only this iconic bridge could continue in some way, shape or form to be such a piece of the park system and the trail system, but to make sure that it was safe for those who want to use the park,” said state Sen. Christine Cohen (DGuilford).
Buckley is happy to see the project moving along.
“I think it had deteriorated so much that it had to be rebuilt,” she said.
“Especially the abutment underneath,” she said. “There was really no way to correct that. It’s the big stones and boulders and some of them had become dislodged, making the structure a little bit unstable.”
Since 2022, the Lamont Administration and the legislature have committed $80M in capital investments as part of the Restore CT State Parks initiative.
With some 412 acres, Chatfield Hollow State Park is a popular destination for biking, hiking, picnicking, swimming and fishing. Other projects planned at the park include improvements to the beach area, the dredging of Shreeder Pond, the re-paving of the entire park’s roads and parking lots and repairs to the Mill Pond dam. More information at the DEEP website. For Buckley, once the bridge project is completed, she is looking forward to spearheading another project at Chatfield Hollow.
Buckley helped bring the deterioration of the Chatfield Hollow Oak Lodge to the attention of state officials. The nature center was completely renovated in 2018.
Now Buckley’s vision is to be able to make that building accessible all year long by upgrading the electricity to 220amp service.
“We haven’t been able to use the nature center when it’s cold,” she said. “So, if we got 220-amp in there, that would solve it. We could turn the heat on when we’re using it and turn it off when we’re not.”
For now, Buckley and Friends of Chatfield Hollow look forward to the bridge construction which is expected to start late summer 2024 and finished early fall 2024.
“What better time than when the foliage is beginning to change,” said Cohen.
“It’s such a great time in Connecticut,” she said. “I think it’s really the height of the season in many ways for people to enjoy Chatfield, especially in terms of its trails.”