DEERFIELD — With two areas of River Road degrading, the Weston & Sampson engineering firm received preliminary Selectboard approval this week to explore potential solutions to the problem.

The $27,500 contract will have the Reading-based firm examine the two failing locations near 27 and 51 River Road, which are suffering from “longitudinal cracks and settlement,” according to the company’s proposal. From there, Weston & Sampson will examine the instability of the slopes in those two locations, as well as identify alternatives for addressing the damage.

Town Administrator Kayce Warren said interim Highway Superintendent Chris Miller had Weston & Sampson take a preliminary look at the problematic areas, which led to the development of the proposal.

“[Miller] had them come out and look at the area and provide us with a proposal or scope to essentially evaluate those two spots and provide information on alternatives that the town could use,” Warren said. “There was some work done many years ago and we need to see what’s degrading the slope there because it’s been significant in the last several years.”

While the company has provided a proposal to the town, which the Selectboard agreed would be acceptable, Deerfield will review the terms with town counsel and incorporate them into its typical contract template to ensure the community has all of its “usual protections,” according to Selectboard Chair Tim Hilchey.

In 2014, Weston & Sampson previously completed design services to address pavement cracks and settlement of the road. The reconstruction work took place that fall.

The money for the survey, Warren added, will come from the state-allotted Chapter 90 Program, which provides funding to communities for capital improvements on town roads. Deerfield received $379,534 of Chapter 90 funding for fiscal year 2025.

Once an official contract is signed by the town and the company, Weston & Sampson said it can schedule fieldwork within two weeks of authorization and then complete its report in about four weeks.

Hilchey added that River Road has had “problematic” sections “for a long time” that the town has needed to address. Some of those problems were further exacerbated by intense flooding from the July 2023 rainstorms.

Farther north, in the area of 526 River Road, town officials considered reducing the road to one lane due to concerns over its structural integrity, as it was sinking down a slope. Ultimately, the town was able to stabilize the road.

“Last year’s storms had a big effect over there in terms of saturating the soil,” Hilchey said, adding that this was an opportunity to get some engineers on the road and come up with some possible solutions.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.