Plant ruling set for May 14
The Connecticut Siting Council is set to release a decision on a proposed 805-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in Oxford on May 14. The natural-gas-fired plant would be built next to the Algonquin pipeline, not far from Waterbury-Oxford Airport. A contingent of local residents has opposed construction of the plant, which would be less than a mile from a 55-and-over housing development in Oxford and just over the town line from homes in Middlebury. Competitive Power Ventures, which plans to build the facility, says it will help meet the region's energy needs in coming decades.
Public meeting on Post Road Bridge replacement to be held in May
A public meeting will be held May 28 at 7 p.m. to discuss replacement of a bridge on the Post Road over Greenwich Creek.
The existing bridge, which was built due to the expansion of Route 1, is close to Hillside Road and it will need to be replaced.
According to the town, the bridge is considered to be structurally deficient due to the poor condition of the existing superstructure and functionally obsolete because of the inadequate curb to curb width. Additionally, the bridge is considered hydraulically inadequate because of water flowing onto Route 1 from storm overrun.
The estimated 2013 Average Daily said there are 22,200 vehicles passing over this portion of Route 1.
The public meeting, which will outline the project and the impact construction will have, will take place in the Town Hall Meeting Room. It is being done by the state’s Department of Transportation and residents, business owners and commuters are being invited to attend.
The proposed bridge replacement consists of a single-span steel girder superstructure over an opening of approximately 38 feet. This superstructure will be supported by pile founded concrete abutments and wing walls. It will be elevated approximately two and half feet over where the existing superstructure is in order to create better flow from storms. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
L'Ambiance still echoes
As they have every year since the day it happened, April 23, 1987, organized labor in Connecticut has kept alive not only the memory of the L'Ambiance Plaza construction disaster and the 28 men who died there, but also the importance of the ongoing fight for safety in the workplace.
On that day, a twin-towered apartment building going up at the corner of Washington Avenue and Coleman Street in Bridgeport collapsed, the floors that had been erected in a now abandoned practice called lift-slab, pancaking down on the tradesmen working below.
Death, it was determined later, came with merciful swiftness.
Lift-slab is a method of construction in which concrete floors are poured at ground level and jacked upward into position.
As U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal noted afterward, while the L'Ambiance tragedy was labeled "an accident," it was, more accurately, a result of "human failure" and "greed."
Today, at 10:45 a.m., in Bridgeport City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace, the Fairfield County Labor Council, the Fairfield Country Building Trades, the Connecticut State Building Trades and the Connecticut AFL-CIO, will once again raise the words of labor organizer Mother Jones, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Tanger Outlets project at Foxwoods kicks into high gear
LEDYARD >> With just a month to go before the opening of the sprawling 300,000-square-foot Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, the retail center still is in a state of flux. Some parts of the three-story complex still are shells, steel and concrete floors exposed for all to see, while others are more polished, with construction workers putting the finishing touches on marble tiles.
“Michael Kors is already done,” David DelVecchio, the center’s general manager, said, referring to the women’s fashion accessories retailer, as he led reporters on a tour of the $120 million complex Tuesday. “They’re just waiting for product.”
But Tanger Outlet Centers, a North Carolina-based real estate investment trust with 45 upscale shopping centers in 24 states and Canada, and Standard Builders of Newington, the project’s general contractor, aren’t taking any chances. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction of fuel cell in Glastonbury progresses
GLASTONBURY — A state-of-the-art fuel cell facility being built along Chalker Hill Road is progressing quickly.
Ed Crowder, spokesman for UIL Holdings Corporation, said the fuel cell should be "up and ready to run" by the end of July. The cells, manufactured by Fuel Cell Energy of Danbury, use a chemical process that separates hydrogen to create electricity. The electricity is then sold to Eversource, the former Northeast Utilities.
The process is further enhanced - creating more electricity - when it is linked with a natural-gas gate station. The energy recovery generator recycles energy from the gas pressure letdown process and the heat from the fuel cell. The generator should be in place by January and operational in 2016.
A gate station takes high-pressure gas coming from the main line and reduces the pressure level so it can be distributed to businesses and consumers. The fuel cell is next to a Connecticut Natural Gas station near the junction of Chalker Hill Road and Hebron Avenue.
Travelers Plaza construction forces road closure
HARTFORD — The redevelopment of the plaza next to the Travelers tower downtown just got underway — and for anyone who uses Atheneum Square North to get between Main and Prospect streets, there's more to see than the demolition.
A construction fence has closed off the street, which runs between the plaza, known as "Tower Square," and the Wadsworth Atheneum.
Initially, the plan was to keep half the street open while work was done, first on the plaza side and then on the Atheneum side.
But a city official said Wednesday that a subsequent review concluded the area was just too tight to accommodate both the construction and traffic safely.
"It was too risky," City Engineer Constantin Banciulescu said. "I didn't want to approve an unsafe situation."
Travelers didn't have a comment Wednesday.
Travelers has embarked on a two-year, $25 million redevelopment that will open up the nearly two-acre plaza on Main Street and lower the walls that surround it. A three-story, copper-domed rotunda will be replaced with a more modest entrance. Massive granite planters will be removed, making way for landscaped lawn areas. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$60M apartment complex proposed for Unionville Site
FARMINGTON — In an effort to further develop the town's Unionville section, officials are considering a proposal to build a $60 million luxury apartment complex at the historic Charles House factory.
CenterPlan Development Co. has proposed a 298-unit complex on the 19-acre property at 19 Perry St. adjacent to Union School, said Town Planner William Warner.
"It's going to add vitality," Warner said, citing the proximity to downtown stores. "It will create a cool environment to live in. Literally, you could live there and not even need a car."
Economic Development Director Rose Ponte said the property was a felt factory before closing in the 1980s. In 2007, the town approved a plan to build 97 apartments on the property and demolished the factory building, but the project never moved forward because of financial constraints, Warner said.
"That property has continued, right smack in middle of Unionville, to remain vacant," Ponte said. "We would love to see it developed." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE