By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer
—
The cost, in both time and money, of the fire that broke out on the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge on Monday afternoon is still unknown.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said that, until a "corrective action" plan is designed, the state won't know how expensive the fixes will be or how long the repairs might delay the completion of the state's $25.8 million bridge rehabilitation.
What is known — five days after paint and paint thinner being mixed below the bridge burst into flames — is that most of the damage caused by the fire, which closed the bridge for an hour, was due to the temporary scaffolding used to paint the underside of the bridge.
The bridge's structure itself came through the blaze largely unharmed, according to DOT spokesman Adam Hurtubise, who added that the eventual repair tab will not be picked up by taxpayers.
"The damage to the bridge itself was fairly limited and the repairs are not expected to be significant, though we do not yet have a time frame for implementation and we also don't have a figure on associated costs," Hurtubise said in an e-mail to the Times. "The costs will, however, be borne by the contractor and we will merely be providing the necessary repair procedure for the contractor to implement."
That contractor doing the painting, according to the Gloucester Fire Department, is Seaway Coatings of Baltimore, Md., which had 14 workers on the bridge when sparks from an electric mixer ignited a drum of paint thinner. None of the workers were injured.
After spreading to several barrels of paint, and the plywood that made up the scaffolding, called a "safeway," the blaze would eventually engulf a 40-foot section of the bridge in flames and black smoke.
The fire interrupted a rehabilitation of the 60-year-old bridge over the Annisquam River that began in 2008 and is scheduled to be finished next spring.
The fire capped a five-day period during which all three connections between island Gloucester and the mainland were either cut off or questioned regarding safety issues.
First, the MBTA acknowledged that the Annisquam River train bridge is in serious disrepair and will soon face either significant rehabilitation or replacement.
Then on Sunday, the Cut drawbridge over the Blynman Canal was stuck in the upright position for an hour due to a power outage, blocking traffic on Route 127.
That set the stage for the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge fire, which at one point backed up cars on Route 128, the primary artery to Cape Ann, all the way to Manchester and the School Street exit (Exit 15) off Route 128.
Although unrelated to Monday's fire, the transportation department said it is also still reviewing a request by the city to install a federally-funded surveillance camera on the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge.
The city installed 16 security cameras with video feeds to the police station, harbormaster's office and Coast Guard Station Gloucester more than a month ago after winning a federal grant.
The purpose of the grant was to improve port security, but Gloucester police have put the cameras in a number of terrestrial locations across the city to use as a crime-fighting tool.
In addition to the spots with cameras now, the city had also wanted to put cameras on the A. Piatt Andrew and Cut bridges, but both were rejected without explanation from the state.
It is unclear how long the state's review of the camera request will take.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000 x3455, or at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
