By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — In just five years, the cross culvert under Chaplin’s Mill Road has almost failed twice.

This infrastructure crisis is concerning enough that outgoing Naples Town Manager John Hawley advised replacing it with an open box culvert this year. 

He warned that the town might lose the road if the culvert gives out. He suggested using money from the Roads and Paving Bonds, if that ballot measure passes in June.

Last month, the culvert was a topic on the Naples Board of Selectmen’s agenda.

“With the recent rainfall and flooding, there has been a lot of roadside damage, a lot of pavement breaking up,” Hawley began.

Naples Maintenance Director Steve Merkle has been busy doing damage control following the extreme rainfall on the night of April 30 and the morning of May 1.

“The cross culvert under Chaplin’s Mill Road was almost washed away, which would have ultimately destroyed the road,” Hawley said. “This the second storm during my tenure that we have been in danger of losing it.”

Merkle said that the last time the culvert was underwater, a crane was used to hold it in place until the flooding subsided. Last summer, an inspection confirmed that the bottom of the culvert is rotted out.

During the May Hawley described the scene earlier this month.

“After this storm, the water coming through it went over the road, and [the water] was pushing the side walls of the culvert,” he said.

In order to ascertain how much more damage the culvert sustained, it would require cutting into the pavement, he said. No doubt it is damaged. A fix is needed.

Replacing it with an open box culvert is the answer, he said. The open box culvert has been the permanent solution for Horace Falls and Edes Falls roads, he said. 

“They classified this as a 10-year storm. If this was just a 10-year storm, this will happen again soon,” Hawley said.

“We did not budget for this. It would be my recommendation that if the bond passes for paving and road construction, you should use some of that money,” he said.

“You are going to lose that culvert. You should start the process of consulting with an engineer and applying for the permits,” he said.

Merkle said he thought the culvert had reached the end of its lifespan.

“That was quite scary. We shut the road down. The next day, the water level had dropped 18 inches below the culvert,” he said. “Sunday morning, we had six inches of water up on Lake House Road. We removed the debris and within an hour the water was no longer across the road.”

Chairman Jim Grattelo asked if a vote was required.

Hawley said no vote was needed, just the board’s acknowledgement that the town should line up its ducks for the culvert replacement.

“We should start getting some of that legwork done in order to be ready,” he said.

Selectman Colin Brackett, who was attending via Zoom asked about the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit to do work around water.

“It’s a permit by rule. It lasts for a year. If the town doesn’t complete it within a year, it can  apply for an extension,” Hawley said.

In related news, the board accepted the paving bid from Pike Industries for $427,950. This is for grinding and paving on Middle Road, Lake House Road, and Kansas Road.