FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Police say a construction worker in Connecticut was electrically shocked while repairing a ruptured water main.
It happened Thursday afternoon in Farmington. Police say the Barber Utilities employee pierced an underground electrical line while digging a hole as part of repairs to the water main.
Police say his co-workers pulled him from the hole, but he never lost consciousness and walked to the ambulance on his own.
He was taken to John Dempsey Hospital with unknown injuries. His identity has not been released.
The Connecticut Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.
A surge of recent construction activity at work sites along Valley Road is raising the decibel levels during an otherwise quiet time of year — and raising hackles.
Don Mays, a Cos Cob resident, said he is used to the constant buzz of lawn equipment, but there’s a new rhythm section in the orchestra of suburban noise this summer.
“We’ve grown to accept the constant drone of lawn mowers and power blowers from spring through fall, but the non-stop noise pollution from heavy machinery in the North Mianus area of Cos Cob has reached the most annoying crescendo,” Mays wrote in an e-mail. “Jack hammers and other types of heavy equipment have been busily employed to install home foundations and swimming pools in places that mother nature had never intended.”
He said some of the construction noise in the neighborhood can be heard a mile away, and the work goes from morning to afternoon.
“Forget those who need sleep during the day or want a quiet place to work from home — progress trumps serenity,” he said.
Near one work site off Valley Road, Deb Jezierski said she can sympathize with community residents who are weary of noise, while noting it was not a problem when she was indoors. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Middletown board greenlights FedEx zoning exception
MIDDLETOWN >> Representatives of FedEx Ground told Planning and Zoning commissioners Tuesday night that a proposed distribution center construction project is fully compliant with all codes, laws and recommendations.
The commission unanimously approved FedEx Ground’s request for a special exception for the development of the facility and a four-lot industrial subdivision at the former Aetna headquarters.
Dorian Famiglietti, an attorney representing the shipping company and its zoning application, said FedEx has considered the impact of delivery truck traffic in the area of Industrial Park Road.
Lennie Leibenhaut, the principal of Centerpoint Management Co., also on Industrial Park Road, shared during public comment that he had reservations about high-volume traffic in an area with residential roads and rush-hour commuters entering and exiting nearby Interstate 91. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Parts of Meriden's Maloney High School won't be ready for start of school year
MERIDEN — A new freshman academy, cafeteria, and pool at Maloney High School won’t be open in time for the start of school, building officials told members of the School Building Committee Thursday, but should be ready shortly after.
Delays in certain deliveries have pushed back the date when Glasonbury-based Gilbane Building Co. representatives can turn over parts of the school that are included in the second phase of the school’s $107.5 million renovation and construction project, project manager Marcus Brennan said. “I have windows that still haven’t showed up, lockers that are continuing to show up, science lab casework that is just now showing up,” he said.
All of these deliveries are behind schedule, disallowing the crew to open parts of the school they believed last month would be ready for Aug. 27.
Brennan said that the target opening for the new freshman academy and pool is mid-September; the goal for the new cafeteria is early October, “but in full disclosure, we have deliveries that still haven’t shown up yet.”
This means that students and teachers expecting to move into the newest wing for the start of school will remain in largely the same rooms they had at the close of the last school year.
Norm Benjamin, a representative from the consulting firm Arcadis, said, “What we’re doing is giving them the opportunity to finish and not turn over the building early like we did last time, where we had a huge amount of punch list items to complete in an occupied building that we can’t control.”
Arcadis was hired by the city to serve as program manager for the high school construction projects.
“They (teachers and students) are coming back to the same spaces they left last year. There’s been a little bit of juggling around, but that’s been an ongoing effort by teachers and administrators,” Benjamin said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The work began in 2009 and neighbors hailed its completion as long overdue.
“The completion of a new State Street Bridge carries an important artery across Mill River linking the east and west sides of the city,” said Mayor Toni Harp during a press conference Thursday, while welcoming Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker and other state officials.
“This will improve connectivity for residents and businesses to Interstate 91 and help them through this busy area of town,” said Harp.
Harp noted the bridge will bind that part of the city in much the same way it’s doing with the work on Route 34.
“These projects are helping unify a city to be as vibrant as it is diverse,” she said. The 88-foot bridge crosses the Mill River between James Street and the entrance to the Ralph Walker Ice Skating Rink. The span was built in 1920 and, before it was shut down, handled about 7,000 vehicles on an average work day, according to state officials.
At the project’s outset, the projected cost was about $5.1 million. Eventually, that figure ballooned to more than $28 million, according to Vladislav Kamminsky, a supervising engineer for the DOT.
The bridge was supposed to reopen in fall 2011, but then there were what the engineers called “an unexpected conflict” with a water main and the main’s relocation; “conflicts” with the piles supporting the overhead Interstate 91 bridge structure; the discovery of groundwater contamination; and another discovery of contaminated soil. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bridge deadline coming
WATERTOWN — A giant crane Thursday lifted a slab of pre-stressed concrete high above the power lines over Skilton Road and swung them around, carefully lowering them onto the bridge crossing the Nonnewaug River. Workers from Black & Warner Construction Co. closed the bridge to begin work on the $656,202 project July 7. The deadline to open the bridge is Aug. 27, the first day of school.
"There's a lot of work that remains to be done before the bridge can be reopened," said Town Engineer Charles Berger. He said the project got off to a late start because of delays in state approvals. Berger had hoped construction would start in early June, but the state didn't sign off on the project until late in the month.
They got notice to proceed June 29 and Black & Warner had already done a lot of the groundwork to order materials, so those came in quickly, Berger said.
Since work began, the weather has cooperated and the workers have made good progress, Berger said. Thursday was an important step for the project, with workers setting the bridge deck in place. The concrete slabs need to be pinned and grouted to the concrete underneath and the space between the slabs needs to be grouted before workers can lay down a waterproof membrane and four inches of pavement, Berger said. Then they'll need to pour, form and install the curbing, sidewalk and guardrail to make the bridge ready for traffic. "We want to provide a safe crossing," Berger said.
The town has a full-time inspector on site to make sure everything is done properly.
The new road will be 18 feet wide and have two lanes, with a five-foot sidewalk Berger said. The old bridge was only 14 feet wide and one lane. If the bridge isn't finished by Aug. 27, busses may have to detour or the town will discuss alternate plans to make sure the road is safe if the guide rail isn't done.
"The next week will tell," Berger said. "We had a very aggressive construction schedule from the beginning." The state and federal government are funding 80 percent of the costs to rehabilitate the stone arch bridge, with the town funding the remaining 20 percent.