An excavator that fell through a historic bridge in New Brunswick earlier this month is still there, raising safety concerns for those in the area.

The excavator remains in the same place where it fell, leaving the 102-year-old covered bridge in French Village, N.B. unusable. The bridge was the only direct connection to Saint John and Hampton, until the excavator incident on Oct. 5.

“We come down here every day, check and see what they’re doing,” Bonnie Kellar, a nearby resident, told CTV Atlantic.

Kellar says she and other members of the community are worried about getting in and out of French Village during an emergency.

“We do have a lot of older people that live on this road and that’s why I’m concerned about the safety,” said Kellar. “Not really for myself but my mother-in-law is up in years and you’ve got a lady up here with a bad heart.”

Alternate routes take an additional 20 to 30 minutes to reach Saint John or Hampton. The added time is not only a safety concern for older people with health problems, but also a challenge for younger people trying to get to school.

“I normally have to get up around 6:30 a.m. but now I have to wake up around 5 a.m.,” said Gillian Kellar, Bonnie Kellar’s granddaughter. “I have to go out to the bus stop in the dark so that doesn’t help anything and we also have to transfer buses.”

The Department of Transportation installed temporary support structures underneath the bridge on Friday to stabilize it. Engineers are trying to figure out a way to remove the excavator without wrecking the historic bridge.

The excavator was carrying timber to repair the bridge when it fell through.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford