WESTFIELD – City Engineer Mark Cressotti said that a washout was discovered near the end of the improved Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in an area just a few hundred feet south of Tin Bridge which crosses Little River.
Cressotti said Friday that this washout is near an earlier washout that was repaired by the Westfield Gas and Electric Department contractor installing a 12-inch diameter gas pipe line under the trail.
The pipeline was installed under Little River and dropped from the trail, down the bank near that original washout, which was back filled and seeded after the line was installed. The pipeline passes under the river, then back up to the elevated former railroad.
Cressotti said much of the 4,000-foot of improved and paved trail, which runs from the Southwick line to just south of Tin Bridge, has high banks on either side for much of that span, but near Little River the banks terminate and drop below the former railroad, which then becomes a raised structure.
The washouts are occurring at the transition when water, channeled along the trail by the raised banks, drops over the sides of the raised rail bed.
“It’s a pretty good sized washout,” Cressotti said. “It’s definitely a problem. It’s near the end of the paving, but the paved trail has not been damaged.”
Cressotti said that he was obtaining quotes from contractors to determine the cost the work, but was informed that the city has Burke Brothers Inc. under contract for contingency work.
“Using that contract to have Burke Brothers do the repair work was the most expedient way to quickly deal with the problem,” Cressotti said. They started work today (Friday) but are experiencing difficulty getting materials and equipment to the site.
“I’m hoping they can make the repair by the beginning of next week,” Cressotti said.
The washout is beyond the end of the improved trail and is having little impact on the use of the trail.
