Culvert and small bridge grants open, trainings offered

The Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration is accepting applications for the Community Culvert and Small Bridge grant programs.

The programs provide funding to municipalities for the modernization, repair, replacement, removal, and improved resiliency of culverts and small bridges. Both new and ongoing projects may be considered for funding.
The application deadline is Aug. 7.

To be eligible, a Community Culvert project must have an existing span of less than 10 feet, while eligible Small Bridge projects must have an existing span of 10 feet or more.

The DER is also offering culvert replacement and rivers and roads training sessions in the coming months.

• Culvert replacement training session: Aug. 7, Ashburnham, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. — covering the full culvert replacement process and an optional site visit to active projects to learn about real-world design decisions from engineering team leads. (register online)

• Tier 2 Rivers and Roads trainings: Aug. 5 and 6 in Wareham; Sept. 23 and 24 in Chicopee — Featuring classroom exercises and field training to help participants understand river stability drivers, flood risk reduction, and river channel trajectory. Participants must have completed online Tier 1 training before registering for Tier 2. (registration and additional information)