February 6, 2015

CT Construction Digest February 6, 2015

Workers injured as scaffolding collapsesat Green Farms Academy

WESTPORT — Three workers were hospitalized after suffering non-life-threatening injuries when scaffolding collapsed at a Green Farms Academy construction site Thursday morning.
The workers were injured shortly after 10 a.m. when scaffolding -- about 25 feet high and 100 feet across -- gave way at the private school on Beachside Avenue, according to Alison Freeland, the school's director of marketing and communication.
"The construction project is for four global studies classrooms and a new performing-arts center," she said. "Initial word is that it was due to the high winds this morning."
Four construction workers were checked at the scene by emergency medical personnel, and three of them were transported to Norwalk Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to fire officials.
The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration and town police and fire officials started an investigation into the incident following the collapse.
"The construction site is completely fenced off, so no students or faculty were affected by the incident," Freeland added.
She said the building project is expected to be complete in the fall.

Council approves incentives for $12M Coolege Street complex

MIDDLETOWN >> The common council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an incentive plan for a $12-million complex proposed by Massachusetts-based Hajjar Management.
The plan freezes the current tax rate for seven years and sets a $142,600 cap on building permit fees, according to the council’s decision.
The plan was amended to reflect an agreement with Hajjar Management to offer the city 175 parking spaces in the office tower’s garage for $20 each. The amendment, put forth by Deputy Majority Leader Mary Bartolotta, will last for up to 18-months while the new parking garage is built behind the Superior Court building, according to Marie Norwood, Common Council clerk.
Councilman Sebastian N. Giuliano also made adjustments to the plan to reflect that this agreement can be applied to only this project by the current property owner, Hajjar Management, Norwood said.
In December, Hajjar proposed a mixed use development plan for an unoccupied plot of downtown real estate. Plans include shops, studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 570 to 1,100 square feet, with rents proposed from $1,100 and $2,300 per month.
Planning, Conservation and Development Director Michiel Wackers’ projections put tax revenue at just over $1.3 million over the next decade, and $352,800 annually thereafter, excluding revenue from tenant vehicles. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Clinton approves sale of Morgan School site developers for $2.8M

CLINTON >> Townspeople — an unusually large number of them — have approved an agreement to sell the current site of The Morgan School to an Essex development company for $2.8 million.
The sale to Mill Pond LLC, which is planning a mixed use development for the Route 81 property, was approved by 247 voters in favor, and 163 opposed, at a town meeting Wednesday, said Town Clerk Sharon Uricchio.
Uricchio said the voter turnout was “unusually high” for a Clinton town meeting. “The meeting was supposed to start at 7 p.m., but we didn’t get going until 7:35 because there were so many people to register,” she said. “The line was out the front door.” She said 424 residents registered to vote, of which 410 actually cast ballots. “The auditorium was packed. It was great. I like to see that kind of participation.”
Mill Pond LLC is planning a diversified development of the high school site, at the junction of Route 81 and Interstate 95, once The Morgan School moves to a new building currently under construction further north on Route 81
Company principals Henry Resnikoff and Jon Hendel want to create a mixture of residential and commercial life, with stores and restaurants commingled with residences, as well as a 77-room Hampton Inn. Resnikoff said plans call for the development of 12.6 acres of the 22.78 acres of useable land at the site, with the balance left as open space and wetlands.
The town meeting approval was the final step for the developers, whose proposal was chosen from three submitted by a site development committee, and unanimously approved by selectmen and the finance board, with the sale also approved by the zoning commission.
The meeting began with a presentation of the project by Resnikoff and the site development committee, which First Selectman William Fritz said “cleared the air quite a bit of all the misinformation” being offered by opponents of the sale. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Setup work begins for Meriden train station project

MERIDEN — Concrete barriers and chain link fencing were put in place in front of the State Street train station Thursday, part of a staging effort before the first phase of construction begins on a new station and platforms.
Bob Sammons, project manager from the New York-based Judlau Contracting, Inc., said the barriers were installed along the northbound lane of State Street to create a pedestrian walkway opposite the work. The sidewalk at the south end of the street, which connects to East Main Street, will remain open.
The barriers won’t affect traffic, since the street has already been restricted to southbound traffic between East Main and Mill streets since August, Associate City Engineer Howard Weissberg said. The section of State Street closest to the train station will be a one-way road with access limited to buses and taxis. Motorists leaving the train station will only be able to exit north, toward Camp Street.
Bus stops were moved north, closer to Brooks Street, Weissberg said. They’ll stay there for the duration of the work, as opposed to a previous plan that would have required passengers to board buses on Pratt Street.
Once the area is cordoned off, crews can begin installing sheet piles into the ground, which will support the existing train tracks while crews excavate around them, Sammons said. The excavation is the first step to building the city’s new train station, which has been hailed by state officials as anchoring the multimillion-dollar Hartford Line rail system.
The Hartford Line, set to open by late 2016, will upgrade more than 60 miles of track between New Haven and Springfield.
“The little piece where the barrier is will be where the new station is,” Sammons said. The updated platform will stretch nearly the entire length of Railroad Avenue, which runs between the existing platform and the back of the buildings on the east side of Colony Street. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 
 
The Mohegan Tribe announced Thursday it is offering $123 million in tribal and gaming authority bonds to build a 400-room hotel next to its Mohegan Sun resort casino in Uncasville.
The Mohegans have been talking about building a second hotel for their premier casino property since revenue problems stemming The Great Recession scrapped their larger Project Sunburst plans for an additional casino resort in Uncasville. Instead, the hotel will be a stand-alone facility meant to manage the overflow from the Mohegan Sun hotel.
The bonds are being offered in two forms, both utilizing the tribe's sovereign status. Neither will be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States.
The first offering will be $102 million in Tribal Economic Development Bonds. The second offering will be $21 million in aggregate principal amount of Gaming Authority Priority Distribution Payment Bonds, which will have limited obligations to the tribe and instead be payable to the tribe's gaming arm, Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority.
The tribe expects both sets of bonds to be exempt from federal income tax.
In addition to the Uncasville casino, the tribe also owns and operates the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania and operates the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

U.S. DOT releases 30 year outlook on infrastructure

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was joined on February 2nd by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to unveil Beyond Traffic, a new forward-looking analysis from the U.S. Department of Transportation outlining the trends that are likely to shape the needs of our transportation system over the next three decades. Beyond Traffic is offered to the public as a draft to ignite a national conversation about the future of the U.S. transportation system and to objectively frame critical policy choices that need to be made. A final report will be released later in 2015 based on the ideas and public feedback generated by this analysis.
“For too long, our national dialogue about transportation has been focused on recreating the past. Instead, we need to focus on the trends that are shaping our future,” said Secretary Foxx. “In Washington, in state capitals and in city halls, it is time to sound the alarm bell: the future is calling. Beyond Traffic gives us a view into 2045 and the basis to plan for it. But not having a plan is a plan.”
The critical questions and major trends and choices identified include:
How will we move? America’s population will grow by 70 million by 2045. How will we build a transportation system to accommodate a growing population and changing travel patterns?
How will we move things? By 2045, freight volume will increase 45 percent. How will we reduce freight chokepoints that drive up the cost of owning a business?
How will we move better? Technological changes and innovation may transform vehicles and infrastructure, logistics, and delivery of transportation services to promote efficiency and safety. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

U.S. Construction spending rose in December

WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. construction spending accelerated in December as building activity increased for new houses and government-backed highways.
The Commerce Department said Feb. 2 that construction spending rose 0.4 percent in December. Total construction spending in 2014 increased 5.6 percent to $961 billion, with the gains slightly below the pace of 5.7 percent in 2013.
Spending on single-family houses rose 1.2 percent in December from the prior month. Highway and street construction grew by 2.1 percent and factory-building by 1.9 percent. Construction of schools and commercial centers fell in December.
The gains were strong enough that Michael Gapen, an analyst at the bank Barclays, said that the economy likely expanded at an annual pace of 2.8 percent in the final three months of last year, compared to the 2.6 percent estimate reported by the government in late January.
Over the course of 2014, spending on offices, power plants, factories and lodgings climbed significantly, potentially signaling broader economic growth in 2015 that could further boost residential construction.
New home sales climbed 11.6 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, the Commerce Department said in a recent report. That represents a marked improvement from the total sales of 435,000 for all of 2014.
Solid job growth should spill over into construction. Employers added nearly 3 million jobs in 2014, the most since 1999. Economists surveyed by FactSet ahead of the jobs report say that employers likely added 230,000 jobs in January. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

2 bridges to get big overhaul

SOUTHBURY — Two hulking bridges located one mile from each other will undergo considerable work beginning this spring.
The town is expected to go out to bid next month to hire a contractor to rebuild the deck on the Pomperaug River bridge on River Road. The project, expected to start in late spring or early summer, will be paid with more than $3 million in state grant money. One mile west, a contractor working for the state will begin to thoroughly recondition what is known to locals as the "Silver Bridge," which spans the Housatonic River between River Road in Southbury and Glen Road in Newtown.
The $4.5 million project will take at least 14 months to complete.
Officials are already making plans for how to handle anticipated traffic slowdowns on River Road near the two construction zones. First Selectman Ed Edelson said there have been conversations between local and state officials on ways to minimize the disruptions, especially when the two bridges are closed so their decks can be repaired.
"We are coordinating with them," Edelson said. "We will do our shutdown at a different time."
The Pomperaug River bridge has been on the state's watch list since 2004, when it was given a "poor" rating by state inspectors. Although it is not in danger of collapse, the concrete deck is in poor shape with bumps and potholes, and the steel structure underneath is corroding.
Edelson has said the structures that support the bridge are sturdy and do not need to be replaced.
The state gave the bridge to the town about 35 years ago when it abandoned River Road, which used to be Route 6. That means the town is now responsible for maintenance of a bridge that is wider than most town-owned spans because it was designed for a state road. The multi-million-dollar cost was always a concern for town leaders, who have tried without success since 1990 to find grant money to pay for the repairs. Last year, the town obtained a grant from a program administered by the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley to pay for the work.
The Silver Bridge is actually painted a rust-colored brown, but a repainting of the bridge to its original silver color is included in the project.
The structural steel trusses will be repaired, and the bridge bearings will be cleaned and painted. The concrete deck will be rehabilitated, and that will require the bridge to be closed for no more than seven days during the project. After work on the bridges is complete, the town may consider upgrading River Road, a project the local Road Study Committee has said is a priority.
Portions of the road are slowly sliding down a bank into the Housatonic River.
Despite its location on the far west side of town, River Road is an important route to a satellite earth station and the Shepaug Hydroelectric Dam along the Housatonic River.
It also would serve as a detour should the Rochambeau and Carney bridges over the Housatonic River on Interstate 84 ever be closed to traffic.