Walnut Street has reopened after a water main break beneath the bridge prompted an emergency repair and structural safety review.

According to Maynard Department of Public Works Director Justin DeMarco, the bridge reopened today, July 2, at 11 a.m. after the town’s engineering team found “no detrimental impact to the bridge” from the failure.

The break occurred at an unusual and sensitive location: the connection point at the bridge abutment wall, where the water main enters the abutment and runs beneath the bridge to the north side. Because of the location of the break, the town brought in a specialized utility contractor to make the repair and had its on-call structural engineering team evaluate the bridge during the repair process.

“Our engineering team also simultaneously worked with MassDOT’s bridge inspection team to confirm conditions,” DeMarco said in a written response to The Maynard Voice.

The town initially closed the Walnut Street Bridge to both vehicles and pedestrians after the break, saying the closure would remain in place until the water main repair was completed and a full structural evaluation of the bridge had been performed. The town also reported that the utility lost a significant amount of water, causing system-wide disturbance, including low water pressure and discolored water in some areas.

DeMarco said the town reviews every asset failure using a “cause and effect” approach, looking not only at the failed utility but also at any impacts the failure may have caused. In this case, the evaluation found no bridge damage requiring the bridge to remain closed. DeMarco said Walnut Street is inspected yearly, and that MassDOT also has a bridge replacement program for municipally owned bridges.Maynard recently went through that process with the Florida Road bridge.

If a future incident were to cause minor, moderate, or significant structural damage to a bridge, DeMarco said the town would evaluate the needed repair or restoration work based on the type and severity of the damage, the available repair methods, and the cost. Potential funding sources could include operating funds, reserve funds, capital funds, bonds, or other available financing options.

The water main repair itself is funded differently from any potential bridge work. DeMarco said all water work is funded through the town’s water enterprise fund, while sewer work is funded through the sewer enterprise fund. The town can legally subsidize water and sewer improvements or repairs through general taxation, but it cannot use water or sewer enterprise funds to pay for work unrelated to those systems.

During the closure, the recommended detours were Hillside Street or Thompson Street from the south side and River Street from the north side. DeMarco said emergency closures are communicated first to Maynard’s Police, Fire, and DPW departments, which then develop operational detour plans based on their needs.

“All emergency issues are routed to all three emergency departments, Police, Fire and DPW, at time of discovery prior to even including a public outreach,” he said.

With the emergency repair complete and the bridge safety evaluation finding no detrimental impact, Walnut Street is open again. We may update this article if more information becomes available.