Title XX, Transportation

When a bridge crosses the boundary line between 2 municipalities within the state, the 1/5 cost to be borne by a municipality pursuant to RSA 234:10 shall be borne by the 2 municipalities in proportion to their last equalized valuations, unless by mutual concurrence the 2 municip…

Any city or town may contract with any adjoining state or with a political subdivision thereof for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of any bridge crossing the boundary line between New Hampshire and such adjoining state on a class IV or class V highway and for the…

Whenever a bridge is to be constructed or reconstructed with bridge aid in an unincorporated place the county commissioners shall set apart and remit the cost to be borne by such place from the money raised and appropriated for the repair or construction of highways within the co…

Upon approval of the plans and specifications and the municipality or municipalities interested have raised or set aside their proportional share of the estimated cost, the commissioner of transportation shall proceed with the construction of the bridge.

Fifty percent of the contribution of the municipality or municipalities shall be remitted to the commissioner of transportation before any such bridge project is begun, and the balance shall be remitted on completion of the project, and such contribution together with the amount …

On completion of any bridge he shall render an itemized statement of the complete cost of construction to the municipality or municipalities interested.

Whenever, upon the completion of the bridge, the joint fund has not been expended in full, the unexpended balance shall revert to the state and municipality or municipalities in the same proportion as each contributed; and, whenever the cost of construction has exceeded the estim…

All bridges constructed or reconstructed with bridge aid funds and which are located on class II highways shall be maintained by the state.

In this chapter, "bridge" means a structure, having a clear span of 10 feet or more measured along the center line of the roadway at the elevation of the bridge seats, spanning a watercourse or other opening or obstruction, on a public highway to carry the traffic across, includi…

All bridges constructed or reconstructed with bridge aid funds and which are located on class V highways shall be maintained and repaired to the satisfaction of the commissioner of transportation by the towns in which such bridges are located. In case any city, town or unincorpor…

It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state that bridges on regularly maintained highways be inspected as herein provided.

The commissioner of transportation shall make a biennial inspection of bridges on class I, II and III highways. Records of said inspections shall be kept by the department of transportation. The commissioner of transportation may employ such assistants, engineers or consulting se…

The town or city official in charge of highways, or the selectmen of a town, shall make a biennial inspection of bridges on class IV or V highways and town or city maintained bridges on class II highways. Records of said inspection shall be kept by the town or city. Such town or …

As a further prerequisite to application for state bridge aid funds an inspection and report shall be made by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional engineer experienced in bridge design and acceptable to the commissioner of transportation.

The commissioner of transportation shall, upon request of any town or city, inspect a bridge or bridges in said town or city and supply a copy of the record of said inspection at no expense to the town or city, provided that sufficient qualified personnel are available to make su…

I. The commissioner of transportation shall establish and maintain a list of highway bridges that are found, after inspection by the department, to be structurally deficient, which shall be known as red list bridges. This list shall also include structurally deficient state-owned…

I. The department of transportation shall inspect every red list state-owned bridge on the red list biannually and every red list municipal bridge annually as a minimum. II. The department of transportation shall annually provide a complete list of state-owned and municipally-own…

The department of transportation is hereby authorized to assist in the rehabilitation of existing wooden covered bridges upon the state secondary and town road systems in the proportions set forth under RSA 234:10 and 11, for the following purposes: (a) Replacing of floor beams a…

No funds shall be expended unless such bridge may be rehabilitated to a carrying capacity of at least 6 tons.

I. The total amount that may be expended on any bridge under this subdivision for the above purpose shall in no instance exceed the estimated sum that might be necessary for the construction or reconstruction of a bridge under RSA 234:4, 10 and 11. II. The commissioner of transpo…

The commissioner of transportation shall determine the limits of the approaches to all bridges constructed with bridge aid funds.

Any municipality, upon a vote of approval at a town meeting or by city council, may recommend to the state historic preservation office that any unused covered wooden bridge over which it has jurisdiction be considered as an historic site and conveyed to the state of New Hampshir…

Towns may establish bylaws to establish and post reasonable speed limits over any bridge maintained by the town, and any violation of the bylaws shall constitute a violation. Any fines collected under this section shall inure to the use of the town.

Any person unlawfully removing or injuring any lamp or fixture, or extinguishing any light used for lighting such bridge, shall be guilty of a violation, and shall be liable to the town for all damages occasioned thereby.

The selectmen of a town or the mayor of a city, may, by appropriate barriers and signs, temporarily close or regulate travel on any class IV or class V highway or bridge thereon, in order to perform work on such highway or bridge, and may establish, maintain and mark detours. Any…

Except as otherwise provided by law all town bridges not constructed with town bridge aid funds and which the town has the duty to maintain shall have a carrying capacity of at least 6 tons. The selectmen shall cause notice of the load limit of such town bridge to be posted on or…

I. An operator of any motor vehicle, as defined in RSA 259:60, that exceeds any weight, height, or other dimensional limit posted for a wooden covered bridge, who damages any part of said wooden covered bridge within the state as a result of such operation shall be guilty of a vi…

All bridges constructed with bridge aid funds shall have a carrying capacity of at least the legal load as stipulated in RSA 266. All bridges reconstructed with bridge aid funds shall have a carrying capacity of at least 15 tons.

The selectmen of the town or the street commissioner of the city in which such bridge is situate, may grant a written permit to carry a load in excess of such posted load limit on such conditions and under such regulations as such selectmen or street commissioner believe will per…

Any person who operates or attempts to operate any vehicle on such bridge when the weight of the load, inclusive of the vehicle exceeds such posted load limit, without such permit, or who operates or attempts to operate any vehicle on such bridge in violation of such conditions a…

In order equitably to allocate responsibilities between this and adjoining states for the security of interstate bridges and other interstate structures and facilities, in time of war or military emergency or when hostile destructive acts on the part of enemy agents have occurred…

I. The selectmen of a town, the mayor of a city, or the county commissioners for an unincorporated place may annually apply to the commissioner of transportation in the manner prescribed by the commissioner for bridge aid on a class II, IV, or V highway or a county-owned road. Th…

In order to accommodate the early replacement or rehabilitation and lowest cost for municipal bridges that have been closed to vehicular traffic due to safety concerns, cities and towns may request the closed bridge be placed on the schedule for bridge aid funds from the state at…

Applications shall be considered in the order received by the commissioner and shall be programmed for construction on the basis of projected funding availability, anticipated design schedule, and other such parameters as the commissioner may prescribe for scheduling bridge aid p…