CT Construction Digest July 2, 2015

Crews preparing for Connecticut River work

GLASTONBURY — With the calendar turning to July, the town will focus on the banks of the Connecticut River as crews from Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman begin a $1.5 million project to fortify a slope at Riverfront Park.
Although the project calls for the Branford-based marine construction company to install rocks — known as riprap — along the Connecticut River to shore up the slope where the park's boathouse is built, it may be several weeks before that portion begins. Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said Wednesday that the next few weeks are all about mobilizing and site preparation.

"There are an awful lot of moving parts," he said. "It's preparing the area where the rocks will be dropped, it's getting the barges on site. It's doing the final survey work. But they are a very experienced marine contractor and they are ready to go."
The company provides engineered construction services for bridges and dams along with waterfront structures like breakwaters and foundations. The company built the state pier in New London, installed the shiplift at Mystic Seaport and installed underwater utility cable from Norwalk to Northport, N.Y. The company provides engineered construction services for bridges and dams along with waterfront structures like breakwaters and foundations. The company built the state pier in New London, installed the shiplift at Mystic Seaport and installed underwater utility cable from Norwalk to Northport, N.Y. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 

Devon Bridge failure brings delays to metro north

 

STRATFORD — Another of the century-old moveable railroad bridges along Connecticut's shoreline has failed, this time forcing delays as Metro-North traffic across the Housatonic River is reduced to just two tracks. The Devon Bridge breakdown will create rush hour delays "until further notice," Metro-North said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Unlike failures of the similarly decrepit Walk Bridge in Norwalk, though, the malfunction with the Devon Bridge will not leave commuters stranded for hours or require emergency busing. Two of the four tracks can still be used, so trains are slowed — especially at rush hours — but not stopped altogether.
The northern span of the 111-year-old bridge locked in the open position around 1 a.m., and damaged its piers when workers tried to lower it, according to the state transportation department. The DOT declared an emergency, which allows contractors and Metro-North to expedite repairs, according to the railroad. The northern and southern spans each carry two tracks between Milford and Stratford, and trains are still able to use the southern ones. At peak travel times, though, passengers should anticipate delays of about 15 minutes because of the bottleneck effect. The Devon also handles Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional trains along with occasional freight trains, but delays are expected to mostly affect rush hour commuters on the New Haven line and its Waterbury branch. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Downtown Madison beautification project to begin

MADISON >> A $2 million project to beautify the town’s central business district that has been kicked around for more than a decade will get underway next week. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and town officials celebrated the start of the Madison Center Project Wednesday with a ceremonial ground-breaking. Work on the project will continue through Nov. 15 and anything left undone at that point will be finished next spring, said First Selectman Fillmore McPherson.
“We hope to have most of the work done by then,” McPherson said. “This is something that we’ve felt needed to be done for some time. It represents the first update of the downtown in decades.”
The work, which affects Boston Post Road, will be done in two phases, he said. The first phase from the Wall Street intersection down to about where the town’s Hose Company #1 on the north side of the street is located will be done first, with $1.8 million cobbled together from a variety of state grants over a 13-year period. The town also appropriated $615,000 toward the work, McPherson said. The same work also will be done on the south side of the Boston Post Road, McPherson said, from Wall Street west to the Monroe Building and the Henny Penny convenience store. The second phase of the work on the western end of Boston Post Road near the CVS drugstore and two gas stations that sit at the intersection of Route 79 will be done when the town has accumulated the additional $1 million it needs to do the work, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

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