September 30, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 30, 2013

All that its cracked up to be

WATERURY — Municipal Stadium's grandstand is in shambles now, halfway through a $4-million renovation, but city officials say the real mess there lurks underground.

The grandstand's concrete slab foundation is cracked from decades of settling into the quicksand-like soil found under the stadium, officials say. The 3-inch gaps in the concrete suggest the former floodplain just can't support the slabs, much less the weight of additional footings for the new aluminum decking above.

"The soil conditions underneath the stadium are really terrible," said project manager Andrew Martelli. "We need a new slab design before we can proceed."

As a result, a geologist has advised the city to replace the unsuitable fills, sand and silts in the first 10 feet of soil with crushed stone that can bear more weight.

The city has forwarded the geologist's report to project architect BL Cos. and the contractor, Banton Construction, and is awaiting estimates on how much the additional work will cost.

The city hopes to complete the renovation next year. A push is being made to finish the work in time for Waterbury baseball teams to return to the stadium in 2014.

Kevin DelGobbo, the director of the city's development arm, Waterbury Development Corp., said he is trying to find funds to cover the extra costs.

"There is a delta, no doubt, and it is disappointing, but better to have fixed this now than watch the slabs fail in five years," said DelGobbo. "Then all of this is for nothing."

Alderman Anthony T. Piccochi, a member of the WDC board, expressed his frustration with the amount of time the stadium has been essentially off-limits to the public.

Demolition has resumed at the stadium after a period of dormancy that began after the city asked an architect to settle a dispute between the architect and contractor.

The architect originally proposed using soil results taken from samples dug up at other areas of the site, such as where light poles were installed, but eventually relented.

The original plan did not call for pulling up the slabs in the floor entirely, but to remove small sections instead. That is when city officials discovered the huge gaps. Now the city is removing all of the concrete slabs.

Interior walls are also cracked from the strain of settling, leaving sections of the slabs wildly uneven, Martelli said. The new foundation should allow for settling.

The city now also plans to solicit a separate bid to fix the stadium parking lot, fencing and sidewalk along Watertown Avenue, he said.

The Board of Aldermen had originally pushed to have these removed from the project, which was threatening to go over budget. Now DelGobbo wants them back.

"There's no point in fixing the stadium up real nice if it is overshadowed by a parking lot, fencing and sidewalks that are in great disrepair," DelGobbo said.

The project budget appeared to be in such bad shape that the city exhausted its contingency fund before starting the demolition, officials say.

The grandstand renovation is the third and final phase of a seven-year, $6.7-million renovation. The city's share of total costs is $2.5 million. The rest is from the state.

The first phase of the project included the installation of a new synthetic turf field at the football stadium. In 2009, the state agreed to fund a new light system.

The final phase includes a new scoreboard, dugouts, backstop, sound system, spectator bathrooms, a locker and training room and a lobby.

Uconn bringing health service to main campus

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The University of Connecticut is building a new medical center near its main campus as part of the $200 million public-private development project known as Storrs Center.
The development has already opened its first phase of stores, restaurants and apartments along Route 195 and is moving forward with additional construction.
 
 
OXFORD -- Two major road projects for the town have been approved by the State Department of Transportation. First Selectman George R. Temple said he was notified Friday that the DOT commissioner on Sept. 17 approved a paving project for Route 188 (Quaker Farms Road.) The work will extend from Route 67 in Southbury through Oxford and Seymour and out to Route 34 (Roosevelt Drive.)

More time allowed for bridge work

BETHEL -- The town has some extra time this fall to finish critical work needed to replace the Walnut Hill bridge. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection approved the town's request to stay on the job past the Sept. 30 cutoff date for work within a waterway, in this case the Limekiln Brook.

State approves $22M TIF bond for Bass Pro Shops

HARTFORD -- The State Bond Commission on Friday approved the use of future sales taxes generated by the planned Bass Pro Shops store on Bridgeport's Steel Point to pay for $22 million in long-term borrowing for the site's development.The payment arrangement -- called tax incremental financing, or TIF, for short -- was unanimously approved by the panel, which okayed the issuance of the $22 million in state bonds.

Cholchester voters to take up $57M question on Tuesday

That’s when Colchester voters will head to the polls to decide the fate of the town’s proposal to renovate the William J. Johnston Middle School and build a new senior center and community space on the school grounds.

Construction to start on two magnet schools

The CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering is located at 1101 Kennedy Road in Windsor and will accommodate 735 students in grades six through 12.
The CREC Discovery Academy, which bills itself as a state-of-the-art STEM elementary school, is at 176 Cumberland Ave. in Wethersfield. It will serve 480 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

DOT Task Force To Drivers: Don't Endanger Our Lives

To motorists passing a Connecticut highway construction site, the long column of safety warnings might seem over the top: Orange signs, orange cones, flashing lights, sand barrels and even orange dump trucks. But despite all those caution signals, every year at least a few confused, drunk or distracted drivers veer into work zones. Those mistakes can suddenly turn the most routine assignment into a life or death emergency for the work crews.

Parts of Flatbush Ave to close

WEST HARTFORD — State Department of Transportation construction projects will lead to road closures in the Flatbush Avenue area in October. Crews will be moving into stage three of the Flatbush Avenue bridge project, which is part of the CTfastrak busway, the DOT said.
 


September 27, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 27, 2013

Foxwoods breaks ground on $115M outlet shops

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP) — Foxwoods Resort Casino headed in a new direction Thursday, breaking ground on a 300,000-square-foot retail center.
The Mashantucket Pequot tribal casino, fresh off renegotiating sizable debt and competing for a gambling license in Massachusetts, now joins the neighboring Mohegan Sun in broadening the casino brand to include shopping at Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods.
 
 
MERIDEN — A ruling by a state panel with jurisdiction over power plants should not impact a settlement between the city and the owners of an abandoned power plant on Cathole Mountain.
NRG owns the abandoned plant, which includes two buildings, a fuel tank and a water tank on the side of the Mountain. There had been plans to turn the site into a natural gas-fired generating plant. After dealing with financial problems, NRG later learned no new power generation would be needed in the state before 2022. In April 2012, NRG notified city officials it would be abandoning the project.
 
 
Hartford - In order to close Connecticut's current debt and liabilities gap, each man, woman and child would have to pay the state $18,000.
The state closed its $20.5 billion fiscal year 2013 budget with a $398.9 million surplus but continues to carry large debt and liabilities. The surplus was due in part to a strong market and high estate tax revenue and capital gains revenue as opposed to payroll tax revenue, which declined by 0.9 percent.

Dominion firms up plans for emergency center in Norwich

Dominion Resources Inc.’s planned Norwich emergency operations facility will be used about six times a year for drills, with the potential to be staffed around-the-clock in case of an actual incident, company officials said Thursday. Dominion, the parent company of Waterford-based Millstone Nuclear Power Station, is hoping to construct a $10 million, 18,000-square-foot facility in Norwich’s business park that officials say should be functioning by the end of 2014.

Canton Energy Committee Supports Hydropower Project

CANTON — A committee overseeing the town's energy use is urging local officials to keep pursuing a hydropower project proposed for dams on the Farmington River.
The energy committee's chairman, Matt Stone, gave an overview of the group's work to the board of selectmen on Wednesday.

Will state investment in Steel Point give good returns?

The largest beneficiary of Friday's meeting of the State Bond Commission is likely to be Bass Pro Shops, for its new store in Bridgeport. The project is expected to get a total of $31 million in state financing for the $68.5 million project.
Should the state be putting this kind of money into this kind of project?

Metro-North may get partial electic service next week

Partial electric service may return to Metro-North’s New Haven Line next week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday at a news conference in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
Malloy had emerged from an apparently heated meeting with Metro-North and Con Edison officials at which he demanded that full service be restored as quickly as possible. “Quite frankly I was pushing them pretty hard,” he said of Con Ed officials.

Malloy halts road work in wake of train delays

HARTFORD – The state Department of Transportation has been ordered by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to halt all routine roadway maintenance activities in lower Fairfield County as a way to ease traffic as a power disruption on Metro-North’s New Haven Line has sent many rail commuters onto the roadways. According to a prepared statement by the governor's office, routine work will be stopped on Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, the Post Road (Route 1), Route 7, Route 123 and some other busy roads the office didn't specify. “Needless to say, I am frustrated at this situation and continue to press the folks at Con Ed and Metro-North to fix it as quickly as possible,” Malloy said in the prepared statement. “But until the problems are alleviated, we need to take whatever steps we can to help mitigate congestion on roadways.”

Esty askd for congessional hearing on Metro-North disruption

Washington -- Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, wasted no time in asking colleagues on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to request a congressional hearing on the Metro-North failure that will keep that commuter train line out of operations for weeks.



September 26, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 26, 2013

City searches for $1.1M in extra Dolan work

STAMFORD -- The Dolan School renovation project is short $1.1 million in funding.
During the regular Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, member Richard Lyons II and Al Barbarotta, the district's facilities management consultant, reported the cost for the Dolan renovation had increased by $1.1 million since a bid was accepted.

UCONN approves construction budget for school's basketball facility

STORRS -- The University of Connecticut's board of trustees on Wednesday approved a final construction budget for the school's new basketball training facility at $33.3 million.
That is about $300,000 more than the initial budget and doesn't include furniture, fixtures and equipment, which is expected to push the cost closer to $40 million.

Planning Board delays boatyard license again

STAMFORD -- The city Planning Board left the door open for the city to revamp its proposed agreement with developer Building and Land Technology to build a six-acre boatyard in Shippan, and perhaps sweeten the pot for Stamford, with a chaotic end to a meeting that had been expected to result in a vote on the deal.

Library construction on target

RIDGEFIELD -- Work on the town's $20 million new library is continuing at a good clip, with a spring 2014 opening very likely.
"You go there one week, then come back the next, and it changes each time you go,'' Christina Nolan, library director, said of the rapid pace of the work.

Project continues at Thompson Speedway

Nicholas and Joan Swearer, residents of nearby Quaddick Town Farm Road, recently sent out a letter, including one addressed to The Bulletin, expressing their concern over the construction. That letter was signed by 23 other Thompson residents.

E. Hartford firm lands $450M Superfund contract

East Hartford remediation firm Cabrera Services received a five-year contract valued at up to $450 million to clean a Superfund site in New Jersey.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Cabrera the work to continue remediation at the FUSRAP Maywood Superfund Site in Maywood, N.J.

Construction of Foxwoods Outlet mall kicks of today

The long-delayed construction of an 85-store outlet mall at Foxwoods Resort Casino will get underway Thursday, with a ceremonial groundbreaking and the unveiling of the stores that will occupy the shopping center.The $120 million mall, named Tanger Outlets Foxwoods, is being developed by Greensboro, N.C.-based Tanger and Gordon Group Holdings of Greenwich and will encompass 312,000 square feet.
 
 
It doesn't take much prodding for John W. Olsen to launch into a diatribe when the subject of worker pay and Connecticut's labor movement comes up, and Wednesday was no exception.
Olsen delivered his final speech after 25 years as president of the state AFL-CIO, and he went out as he came in: Glorifying the fight for justice. But while he's well known for attacking corporate interests and political opponents, most of the battles he recounted Wednesday were with brothers and sisters of the union movement.

Main Street project nears completion in Winsted

WINSTED >> The Main Street Project to add medians to the down to area is moving forward according to town officials.
Construction on Main Street has been going since earlier this year. Now that the project is wrapping up Town Manager Dale Martin said there is a small hiccup standing in the way of the project’s completion.
“They still have to do some plantings,” Martin said. “And I think there are some issues, but it’s moving along. There’s a minor hiccup at this point.”

 


September 25, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 25, 2013

Project proceeds without eminent domain

BRIDGEPORT -- Unable to reach an agreement over property needed to begin the $8.8 million Black Rock School expansion, city and school officials are dropping plans to take the site by eminent domain and moving forward with the project anyway.

High Tensile Strength Fiber Reinforcement for Asphalt

Grove City, PA (PRWEB) September 24, 2013
http://www.forta-fi.com FORTA-FI® is a high tensile strength fiber reinforcement for asphalt. Tested by today’s tough standards, FORTA-FI® offers dramatic cost savings by significantly reducing rutting and cracking.

UCONN Stamford looks at building dorms

STAMFORD -- The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees will vote Wednesday on whether to spend $500,000 to study whether its downtown Stamford parking garage can be turned into housing.

Some skeptical about transit project

STAMFORD -- State officials and the private developer behind the proposed $500 million plan to revamp Stamford's downtown Transportation Center pitched the project Tuesday as a state-of-the-art facility that would improve the commuting experience for Stamford residents.

CT to approve funds for new Sandy Hook school

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut is prepared to approve the first round of funding for construction of a new Sandy Hook Elementary School building, the governor said Tuesday.
State lawmakers have set aside $50 million to help Newtown build a new school to replace the one where a gunman killed 26 people last December.
 
 
NEW BRITAIN — A bright future was forecast for the Pinnacle Heights section as federal and local officials toured manufacturing and school construction sites there Tuesday.U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, visited the construction sites on Slater Road to discuss the development of a new plant for Polamer Precision, an aerospace manufacturing firm, and construction of the Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Magnet School. She was joined by officials from the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency and Capitol Region Educational Council along with Mayor Timothy O’Brien, all of whom donned hardhats before beginning the tour.
 
 
MERIDEN — The School Building Committee unanimously approved a $93.6 million guaranteed maximum price for construction for the Platt High School renovation project and set the groundbreaking for the much anticipated project for Oct. 15.
 
 
Laura Cruikshank, master planner and chief university architect at the University of Connecticut, will be the keynote speaker Oct. 8 for the Connecticut Building Congress program "UConn, Where to Next?"The program, which runs from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m., will be held at The Hartford Club, 46 Prospect St., Hartford.

 Glastonbury intersections improvements progressing

The realignment of the town's most troublesome intersection is moving closer to reality.
Daniel A. Pennington, director of physical services and the town engineer, in a presentation to the town council Tuesday night, said the preliminary design is nearing the halfway point on the $1.6 million project to align House, Harris and Griswold streets.
Pennington said the project will scale back the waiting time at the traffic lights "significantly."

Manchester moving ahead with Broad Street redevelopment

MANCHESTER — Town leaders are moving forward with the planned transformation of the Broad Street commercial district.
At a joint meeting of the board of directors and the redevelopment agency Tuesday morning, officials discussed the imminent demolition of blighted buildings and a formal request for developers' qualifications to revive the town-owned, "dark side" of the Manchester Parkade.

PURA cuts Aquarion's rate increase in half

NEW britain >> State utility regulators issued a ruling Tuesday that cuts the 17 percent rate increase requested by the Aquarion Water Co. in half.
Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved an 8.6 percent rate increase for the Bridgeport-based company, a move that cuts almost $13 million from the $26.9 million that Aquarion had originally requested.

September 24, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 24, 2013

Metro apartment plan still on hold because of sewer questions

FAIRFIELD -- The 197-unit apartment building that Blackrock Realty LLC wants to build on a site near the Fairfield Metro train station -- instead of the retail pavilion proposed previously -- is still blocked by concerns over a sewer line.

Taking land for betterment of Meriden

MERIDEN — Twelve properties along Colony and State streets will be acquired, partially acquired or have an easement attached to them as part of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line project.

Lyme residents approve spending cap increase for expanding projects

Lyme - About 30 residents approved raising the spending cap for the Town Hall and library project from $4.7 million to $5.08 million at a special town meeting Monday.
The vote gives the town final approval to begin expanding and renovating the two buildings.

Construction starts on $75M Wethersfield High School

 WETHERSFIELD — State and local officials donned hard hats and wielded gold-colored shovels Monday to officially break ground on the $75 million reconstruction of Wethersfield High School.
"Wethersfield High School is going to be the crown jewel of our school district," school board Chairman Joe Cascio said.
The ambitious three-year project will transform the school, originally built in the 1950s with several additions over the years, into a 21st century learning facility, officials said. It will include three new wings with a complete makeover of the building's interior and exterior.

Company sueing New Britain over Broad Street work

NEW BRITAIN — A local contractor hired for the multimillion-dollar Broad Street reconstruction six years ago is suing the city, claiming it's still owed more than $3 million.
LTC Construction contends that New Britain has refused to pay nearly $900,000 of the amount in the construction contract, and also ran up $2.8 million in extra costs that it was never paid for.
LTC, which is based at 560 S. Main St. in the city, contends that it submitted the low bid for part of the work and was awarded a $6.04 million contract in 2007. Afterward, terms of the work were changed and both sides agreed to a higher price of $6.38 million, according to a lawsuit filed this month in Superior Court in New Britain.

Torrington City Council accepts $2.7M for athletic fields

TORRINGTON >> Mayor Ryan Bingham’s final City Council meeting was busier than usual Monday as several motions were approved unanimously at City Hall.
Bingham, who is stepping down Oct. 1 to spend more time with his family, also welcomed an interim mayor in Gerald Zordan, who was appointed late during the council meeting.

U.S. Army Corps Braces N.Y. for future storms

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun the process of restoring the coastal storm risk barrier at Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., in order to correct extensive coastal erosion caused by Superstorm Sandy and in the process is not only improving storm security but also enhancing the beach itself for the benefit of its users.

Indoor walking track out of Kennedy High expansion plan

WATERBURY -- An indoor walking track has been clipped from expansion plans for a $23.2 million addition to Kennedy High School, freeing up space for more classrooms.
School officials and consultants are closing in on a final design for an expansion of Kennedy. They expect to schematic designs ready for board approval in late November or early October, said Bruce Turbacuski, program manager for O&G Industries.
O&G staff are the primary school construction consultants and advisers to the city. Turbacuski updated the Board of Education Building Committee about progress on the Kennedy project Sept. 19.
A walking track, usable by the public, had been a request by the previous administration at Kennedy, Turbacuski said. The new administration would prefer additional classroom space, he said.
Kennedy Principal Robert Johnston was elevated to the job in December, after former principal Michael Yamin left the school to become district director of special education and pupil personnel services.
The current plan calls for an large addition in the rear of the existing school, connected to the main building by a 125- to 150-foot-long elevated corridor.

September 23, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 23, 2013

I-84 reopens after N.Y. bridge replaced

SOUTHEAST, N.Y. -- Traffic was flowing smoothly westbound on Interstate 84 Sunday afternoon after construction crews completed the installation of a new, two-lane bridge over Dingle Ridge Road.

CT panel to consider Bass Pro Shops financing

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — The State Bond Commission is considering a grant and financing package for a planned Bass Pro Shops store that would anchor Bridgeport's long-awaited Steel Point waterfront development project.

As ruling looms, sidesform in cooling towers debate

In Nov. 4 decision, EPA expected to leave states with authority over how to achieve new standard
Waterford - A much-anticipated decision due Nov. 4 from the Environmental Protection Agency is not expected to settle whether the Millstone Power Station ultimately must construct cooling towers, massive concrete structures that environmental groups say would reduce the destruction of fish and other harm to the Long Island Sound ecosystem, but that others warn pose their own drawbacks.

 Lyme Town Hall and library construction begins Tuesday

 Lyme - After much planning and anticipation, construction to expand and redesign Town Hall and the library will begin Tuesday.
But before contractors break ground, residents will vote at a special town meeting Monday on whether to raise the project's spending cap from $4.7 million to $5.08 million. The public spending limit will remain at $3.7 million, according to the agenda.
Residents had approved $4.7 million for the renovation and expansion project in spring 2012 but stipulated that $1 million of that total must come from grants or donations.

Developer: Depot Square in better shape then it looks

The Hartford Courant
September 22, 2013
BRISTOL — When they turned the decrepit Bristol Centre Mall into rubble in 2008, city leaders held out hope that the property would soon be rebuilt with apartments, fresh stores, offices and perhaps a parking garage.
Five years later, the rutted 17-acre lot still has a few rusty "mall parking" markers on utility poles, along with a pair of much splashier signs that went up in 2011 to herald plans for the Depot Square redevelopment.

Yale Peabody Museum to undergo $30m renovation

By Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register
Yale University on Thursday announced a $30 million project to transform and modernize the Great Hall of Dinosaurs, the adjacent Mammal Hall and related fossil exhibits in the Peabody Museum of Natural History.
The Peabody, which houses discoveries by one of the earliest dinosaur bone hunters, O.C. Marsh, is raising money now to commemorate its 150th anniversary with the $30 million renovation project. The idea is “to reflect advances in the study of the history of life on our planet,” the museum said in a press release.

Esty makes renewable choices, Maine wind, CT sunshine

By Mark Pazniokas and Jan Ellen Spiegel
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday his administration is delivering on a promise to procure clean energy at competitive prices as it announced deals with developers of a new wind farm in Maine and a solar project in eastern Connecticut.
The two projects will average under eight cents per kilowatt hour, a price the administration says is close to the cost of power generated from fossil fuel plants. It called the rates some of the lowest costs ever obtained for solar and wind power in the region.
 
 
 


September 12, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 12, 2013

Malloy speaks at Trades Council 91st annual convention

Selectman Approve DEEP work at Cedar Swamp

Downtown New London housing restoration in the works

Housing project breaks ground at former Winchester Arms Factory

MDC may buy building near its headquaters

UCONN, Developer sign deal for downtown Hartford campus

North Branford meeting on Route 80 bridge replacement set for Tuesday

Malloy tells construction trades CT will get more projects underway


Plymouth schools harness sunshine
State OKs solar farm by high school


PLYMOUTH — A field across from Terryville High School by next year could be blanketed with solar panels as a part of the school district's next leap toward going green.

State regulators approved New Jersey-based Phos Energy to build the solar farm on 8.5 acres of former farmland off Harwinton Avenue. The project must be complete by Oct. 1, 2014, to avoid being in breach of a contract with Connecticut Light & Power.

Wayne Moore, a company representative, said they are working with the Planning & Zoning Commission to have the project approved locally and they have committed to buying the lot.

The property is assessed at $189,310 and is owned by the estate of Ida Biscoe in care of Brett Peltzer, of Wilder, Vt., assessor's records show.

Phos Energy approached the town and school board last spring about building solar arrays near Terryville High School and at Thomaston Center, Harry S. Fisher and Eli Terry Jr. Middle schools.

The panels would be installed in the field and on the roofs of the other schools, leading to a savings of $5 million over the next 20 years, according to company data. Moore said they will be able to produce enough power to supply 100 percent of the school needs, and could also cover town buildings, including the Town Hall, library and fire departments.

Plymouth schools' total Connecticut Light & Power bill over the past year was $311,810. The high school alone uses $169,500 worth of electricity annually; by blanketing the nearby field with 5,110 solar panels, the 1 megawatt of electricity needed could be culled from the sun.

Moore said the schools would be charged a reduced rate for electricity. The rate would increase only with the rate of inflation each year. He said traditional power costs have been rising 6 percent a year, much higher than inflation, which they estimated to be between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent.

Construction is slated to begin June 1 and be complete by Aug. 1.






September 9, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 9, 2013

Mayoral Q&A Transportation and Infrastructure

Blakeslee Prestress to lay off 50 cites dwindling demand

CT utility regulators set hearings on natural gas expansion plans

Leading sports network makes investment in its future

New Wallingford firehouse aiming for final approval by November

Danbury school construction projects moving forward

Tax impact of Cholchester building project outlined

Why union labor is better

Hamden's Memorial Town Hall set to reopen after 4 years of work

Construction spending hits 4 year high



Yankee Gas fined over fire

Safety violations tied to destroyed home, authority says

WATERBURY — Yankee Gas Services Co. was fined $150,000 for its role in a fire that destroyed a multifamily home at 55-61 Proctor St. on March 18.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority issued a ruling Friday that says Yankee Gas violated four federal regulations regarding pipeline safety, which was "the cause of the natural gas release and subsequent fire."

The fire at 55-61 Proctor St. was fueled by natural gas, said Fire Chief David Martin. There were no injuries, but the house was a total loss.

Martin said fire marshals were unable to determine the cause of ignition due to the severity of damage to the house.

The fire began after a worker for Burns Construction, who was working in a crawl space under the house, used an electric reciprocating saw to cut through a service line he believed had been disconnected.

This caused a high pressure natural gas leak, according to PURA. The worker tried to stop the flow of gas with his finger, but to no avail. He evacuated residents shortly before the fire began.

PURA reviewed the events leading to the fire and determined that Yankee Gas had failed to abandon a service line on Proctor Street when a new line was installed in 2011.

A Yankee Gas technician added the new service line to the company's mapping system and removed the original line — "despite there being no indication that the service line had been removed from service," according to PURA's report.

In 2012, Yankee Gas began replacing 1940s steel natural gas mains in the Proctor Street area with new plastic mains. A contractor, Burns Construction, performed the work.

Sargis Associates, which Yankee Gas hired to inspect the project, assembled a punch list of tasks that needed to be done. Sargis inspectors and Burns Construction reviewed the punch list with a Yankee Gas construction engineer, according to the report.

The punch list did not address the service line at 55-61 Proctor St. that didn't appear on maps but was still carrying natural gas. The fire occurred four weeks later.

Although the work was done by contractors, PURA's ruling only affects Yankee Gas.

"They're responsible for the actions of their contractors, so we hold them accountable for anything that involves contractors they have hired," said Dennis Schain, spokesman for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, of which PURA is a part.

PURA's ruling orders Yankee Gas to do the following:

Pay a penalty of $150,000 to the state.
 Develop a procedure to identify when a service line must be disconnected from the main when a new service line is installed.
 Develop a policy outlining the steps used to determine if a service line is active.

Conduct an audit of its mapping system, looking at 20 percent of the services replaced during 2011. In each case, Yankee Gas must determine whether the old service was actually cut off from the main, and whether maps correctly show the old service as abandoned.
 Retrain mapping system employees on the procedure for updating records.

Send a letter to the mayor and fire chief of Waterbury explaining the incident and steps taken to avoid such incidents on the future.

Notify PURA that it has complied with these orders by Oct. 28.

Yankee Gas has 20 days to contest PURA's ruling, but spokesman Mitch Gross said the company will comply with the order.

Gross wouldn't answer other questions, but offered this statement from Yankee Gas: "We've reviewed PURA's decision and have, in fact, already been addressing many of their recommendations in the decision. Our first priority and obligation is always the safety of our customers and the public."








September 4, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 4, 2013

Sewer work to begin in Kent

Contractors get extension in Lake Besek dam bid process

Work on Wallingford office building to start soon

City awaits Platts costs

Changes planned for Wallingford on-ramp to 15

Stonnington officials back affordable housing plan

NY architect chosen for Charter Oak School project

Outlet mall groundbreaking now September 26

$10m Federal transportation grant for New Haven's State Street Station

Projects at Uconn and Jackson Labratory on pace

Will employers be forced to spend $6B a year


Yankee Gas to tear up Grand Street in Waterbury



WATERBURY -- Yankee Gas will begin to install a new natural gas line underneath Grand Street next week.

The company did not provide an exact start date except to say the project will begin sometime during the week of Sept. 9.

The project entails building a 600-foot gas line that will serve the civil courthouse at 300 Grand St. Also, Yankee Gas will install a 300-foot gas line up State Street that connects to the AT&T building at 348 Grand St.

The new gas lines will feed into a natural gas main on Meadow Street, said Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Yankee Gas.

The civil courthouse plans to switch from oil to natural gas to heat the building, said Rhonda Stearley-Hebert, manager of communications for the Connecticut Judicial Branch.

She said the boilers are 35 years old -- the same age as the building.

"They were repaired to the point where they couldn't be repaired anymore," Hebert said.

The courthouse is replacing the boilers and converting to natural gas heating, which is in line with the state Office of Policy & Management's energy conservation program.

The state recommends converting to gas for the sake of conservation, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and because it is a cleaner form of energy, Hebert said.

The cost of the conversion at 300 Grand St. is about $300,000 she said. The criminal courthouse at 400 Grand St. is already heated by natural gas.

Meanwhile, AT&T's natural gas connection will be used to power a fuel cell, which AT&T is installing on the roof to generate electricity for the building.

Installing the underground gas line involves digging up Grand Street. The work will occur at night -- from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. -- and any holes in the road will be patched by morning, Gross said. There shouldn't be any disruption to traffic going through downtown.

Gross said Yankee Gas will work with the city when there are night meetings that go past 8 p.m. to make sure there is access to City Hall.

Yankee Gas will pay for the cost of installing the line on Grand and State streets -- about $100,000, Gross said. The project is expected to be finished by the end of September.