Route 165 bridge work ahead of schedule
GRISWOLD - Here’s the good news for drivers on Route 165 who have put up with one-lane traffic over Pachaug Pond for a year and a half: The project is ahead of schedule. The bad news: The work won't be completed until late spring, at best. “It’s not cut in stone, but we think we can have this finished up by June of 2015,” state Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick said. The original completion date was November 2015. Construction on the bridge began in April 2013, Nursick said; the original structure was built in 1934 and had reached “the end of its useful life span.” Alternating one-way traffic guided by stop lights has kept traffic flowing throughout the project. “That’s the trade-off with projects like this,” Nursick said. “If you need to maintain traffic flow, you slow down the pace of the work. If we could have detoured the traffic, we could probably have gotten it done in half the time.” Hemlock Construction of Torrington is doing the work on the $1.4 million project. The roadbed on the bridge will be widened from 30 feet to 34 feet. The former reinforced concrete slab construction will be replaced by a cast-in-place reinforced concrete deck supported by galvanized steel beams and vertical foundation walls, according to the DOT. Weather could influence the timetable for completing the project, Nursick said. “If water levels rise as a result of heavy rain or temperatures fall below a certain level, that can definitely impact a construction schedule," he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
83% of construction firms report having trouble finding qualified workers
Most construction firms report they are having trouble finding qualified craft workers to fill key spots as the industry recovers from its years-long downturn, according to the results of an industry-wide survey released Oct. 22 by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials called for new career and technical school programs, as well as other workforce measures to offset the labor shortages. “As the survey results make clear, many construction firms across the country are having a hard time filling available positions,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors. “Considering how much the nation's educational focus has moved away from teaching students career and technical skills during the past few decades, it is easy to understand why the construction industry is facing such severe labor shortages.” Eighty-three percent of responding firms nationwide are having a hard time filling craft worker positions — on site construction jobs including carpenters, equipment operators and laborers. Sixty-one percent are having a hard time filling professional positions — including project supervisors, estimators and engineers.
Simonson noted that worker shortages appear most severe in the southeast, where 86 percent of contractors report having a hard time finding qualified workers. Eighty-four percent of contractors in the midwest, 82 percent in the west and 67 percent in the northeast report difficulty finding workers.
The construction economist added that many firms are changing the way they operate to address worker shortages. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Oxford power plant divisive as ever
OXFORD — A proposed power plant to be built near Waterbury-Oxford Airport could help power homes and lower electric bills in the region, but critics say it could also pose a hazard to air traffic.
Supporters of the natural gas facility, including Oxford town officials, say it would provide a much-needed boost to Oxford's economy in the form of lower taxes and more jobs, all while producing enough electricity to supply 750,000 Connecticut homes. Opponents, many from nearby Middlebury, claim the plant will drive down their property values, create noise and air pollution and threaten the safety of planes flying in and out Waterbury-Oxford Airport. The Connecticut Siting Council approved a smaller version of the plant 15 years ago and will decide if the expanded project can move forward. The council also will consider studies from various groups, including the Federal Aviation Administration and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The project is approved based on permits from 1999 allowing for a 512-megawatt plant on a 26-acre site in an industrial zone on Woodruff Hill Road in Oxford, a half-mile due east of Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
Massachusetts-based Competitive Power Ventures seeks to modify the application to accommodate an 805-megawatt facility at the same location. THE AIRPORT, which opened in 1969 and houses about 167 aircraft, has a daily average of 127 takeoffs and landings, according to recent data. Most of the airport property is in Oxford, with a small portion extending into Middlebury. Ray Pietrorazio, a Middlebury resident, has been a long-standing critic of the plant and claims its proximity to the airport would be extremely dangerous for air travel. "What is clear to me is that a power plant of this size and magnitude cannot safely coexist with a bustling regional airport," Pietrorazio said. "Sooner or later a tragedy will happen, and we should not invite the risk." Pietrorazio emphasized that his primary concern is the plant's location — directly in the left downwind leg of the landing pattern for planes flying into the airport. "There are multiple clear and readily identifiable hazards to aviation, most notably the introduction of pollution and heat thermal exhaust plumes from the proposed smokestacks which would cause aircraft to lose altitude and stability and suffer loss of control," Pietrorazio said. "The lack of oxygen in the plumes will pose the additional risk of engine ignition failure and stalling which is a frequent precursor to crash." The FAA has gone back and forth in its opinions about the proposed plant. In 2008, the FAA released an aeronautical study stating that the power plant's stacks would be a "hazard to air navigation" unless the stack height was reduced to 132 feet above ground level. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE