SOUTHINGTON — A bridge replacement project that will shut down Interstate 84 has been postponed a week by the state Department of Transportation to avoid interfering with the Traveler’s Championship. The DOT is building a replacement bridge next to the structure carrying I-84 over Marion Avenue. The new bridge will be wheeled into place and installed from Friday, June 27 at 9 p.m. to Monday June 30 at 5 p.m. DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said the replacement is the first major project in the state to use the new method, called accelerated bridge construction. The replacement is completed over a weekend. “We need to make sure everything goes off perfectly. That’s the bottom line,” he said. The delay means the golf tournament won’t coincide with the highway closure. Another week will also give the department time to install cameras that will stream to the DOT website. That’ll give drivers a view of traffic around the project, Nursick said, along with the project itself. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Nuclear plants prepare long-term waste storage
WATERFORD — Nuclear power plants across the United States are building or expanding storage facilities to hold their spent fuel — radioactive waste that by now was supposed to be on its way to a national dump. The steel and concrete containers used to store the waste on-site were envisioned as only a short-term solution when introduced in the 1980s. Now they are the subject of reviews by industry and government to determine how they might hold up — if needed — for decades or longer.
With nowhere else to put its nuclear waste, the Millstone Power Station overlooking Long Island Sound is sealing it up in massive steel canisters on what used to be a parking lot. The storage pad, first built in 2005, was recently expanded to make room for seven times as many canisters filled with spent fuel. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT's first food recycler gets nod from Southington to move forward
Southington recycler Quantum Biopower has received approval from the Southington Planning & Zoning committee to put Connecticut's first food recycling and anaerobic digestion facility on 65 acres in the town. The approval in early May coincides with Quantum landing three key contracts to start receiving food waste from Aqua Turf Club, the Southington Country Club and the Farmington Club in order to power its facilities. The anaerobic digester uses the gas created by the decomposing garbage to generate electricity. The opening of the facility will be a major win for Connecticut environmental officials who are pushing for a 60 percent state recycling rate by 2024. Processing of food waste is a significant cornerstone of that plan. A 2011 state law requires all major food waste generators near an organics recycling plant to send their leftover food for processing at the facility. The Southington location can handle food from generators like hospitals, hotels, sporting arenas, grocery stores, and food processors that create waste from expired beverages and packaged foods, produce, fats, and pre- and post-consumer food waste. Quantum expects the Southington facility to generate enough electricity to power 750 homes per year. Quantum partnered with trash haulers All Waste and Winters Brothers to tap into their client rosters to route more organics waste to the Southington facility.
West Hartford plans for hotel unveiled
WEST HARTFORD — The development team seeking to build a six-story luxury hotel at the corner of Memorial and Raymond roads has detailed their plans for town officials. The town council and plan and zoning commission held a joint public hearing on the application Tuesday for the Delamar Hotel, which would be a 111-room boutique hotel. Officials did not make any decisions on the application. Mayor Scott Slifka said the plan and zone commission is expected to vote on numerous zone changes and related regulation amendments on June 2, and the council is set to vote on necessary approvals on June 10. Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle said officials have long thought that a hotel would enhance the West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square areas, so in June 2012, the town sought proposals for a hotel on four acres of town-owned land across from the police station. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Courthouse to be built in Torrington
TORRINGTON — One of the longest-running disputes in state government appears to be over: A new courthouse will be built in Torrington. For the past four decades, Republicans and Democrats have argued bitterly over where the courthouse should be constructed. Republicans wanted it in the Republican town of Litchfield, while Democrats wanted it in the city of Torrington.
Some governors — on an issue that dates to Democrat Ella Grasso — decided through the years not to take a position on potential locations. As the first Democratic governor in two decades, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy traveled to Torrington on Tuesday and said that the consolidated courthouse will be built in the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Wrongful death trial opens in NYC crane collapse
NEW YORK (AP) - A construction crane owner who was acquitted of manslaughter in a collapse that killed two workers is now facing a civil wrongful death trial over the accident, which helped spur new safety measures. The slain workers' families are suing crane owner James Lomma, his company and others involved in a Manhattan high-rise construction site where a crane snapped apart in May 2008. In opening statements Friday, lawyers for the families lambasted Lomma, whose 2012 acquittal they saw as a blow. “Cranes are not supposed to fall from the sky,'' said Bernadette Panzella, who represents crane operator Donald C. Leo's family. “James F. Lomma didn't do what he was supposed to do.'' CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE