ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Work on the new $4 billion Tappan Zee Bridge on the Hudson River north of New York City has hit a major milestone.
State officials say construction crews have topped off the eight main bridge towers and will pour the final concrete this week.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo celebrated the accomplishment with a visit Tuesday to the bridge's Westchester side. He said the new span is expected to open on schedule in 2018.
In addition to the eight bridge towers, 90 percent of the bridge's support structures have been completed. More than 220 million pounds of steel and 300,000 cubic yards of concrete will go into the bridge.
State officials say that's enough concrete to build a sidewalk from the project site to Key West, Florida.
The existing bridge serves an average of 140,000 vehicles each day. This story has been corrected to indicate the bridge is expected to be completed in 2018, not 2017.
Council members are slated to vote tonight on the additional money during their regularly scheduled meeting.
The Glastonbury-based Lenard Engineering originally agreed to do a 15-week environmental study on the watersheds which are owned by the New Britain Water Department but located in Plainville.But two state agencies that deal with water planning and water quality nixed Lenard’s plans for the 15-week study this summer and instead expanded the scope to include a review of the environment during all four seasons.
Lenard and the city originally agreed on a $337,000 price tag for the 15 weeks of work and two weeks of review before state agencies and residents. Lenard Vice President James Erickson said in early November that $25,000 of the $337,000 was considered contingency funds so his firm would likely not need any more money to expand the scope of the study. The mayor’s Chief of Staff Jodi Latina also said previously that Lenard would be able to complete the work without any additional funding.
“It is related to the change in the scope of the environmental study, which was mandated from the state through Sen. (Terry) Gerratana and the Public Health Committee,” Latina said. “This request doesn’t need to go before the Common Council, as it is coming from the Water Fund, but we are doing so to be transparent. It’s important that every move the city makes with regard to the study be open—it is the people of New Britain who we answer to.”
“I look forward to the discussion,” Republican council member James Sanders Jr. said of tonight’s council meeting. “I have several questions, especially since there wasn’t supposed to be an increase.”
Erickson told members of the Water Planning Council, one of the agencies that demanded an expanded scope of study, that his firm’s work was about 40 percent complete. Based on what they have done so far, Erickson said it looks like the reservoir could hold 2 to 4 billion gallons of water, which would be “very nice to have in these days of drought.” CLICK TITLLE TO CONTINUE
Meriden company holds drone demonstration
MERIDEN — Boston-based MicroCAD Training and Consulting, which has an office in Meriden, held a live drone demonstration for area companies on Tuesday morning.
“We’re trying to help them understand the value of this technology,” said Wayne Nummelin, MicroCAD senior account executive. “We’re trying to help them understand how to use it in their business, to drive efficiencies ... reduce costs and make them more competitive in the marketplace.”
MicroCAD consultants Peter Bruckner and Mike Caruso spoke with representatives from 10 companies who attended the demonstration.
“We already utilize similar equipment and software to survey large sites and it provides much more detailed imagery,” said George Pendelton, of Rocky Hill-based surveying firm Martinez Couch & Associates LLC. “We’re finding our clients like it as an additional tool to supplement the conventional survey.”
Bruckner led a demonstration in a parking lot across the street from the MicroCAD offices at 290 Pratt St. He showed how to program the drone and sent it on a short data collecting mission.
“It’s easier in some ways than conventional data collection and it just provides much more information,” said Pendelton, a Wallingford resident. “It can be useful in areas that are a little less accessible or need to be surveyed on a regular basis.”
Using drones is becoming an easier, better and faster way to collect survey data.
“We can collect a lot of data,” Pendelton said. “I did a 128 acre-site last week and we collected all the data in a few hours.”
The new 3DR drone has the ability to take 500 photos per 20-minute flight while flying over a 60-acre site 400 feet in the air. The drone uses a Sony R10 camera.
“This is new; it has only been out for about six months,” Nummelin said. “I look at it as a leading-edge type of technology solution and these companies are really interested in it because of the difficulties they have in acquiring data.” CLICK TITLLE TO CONTINUE
After seven months, what's one more week?
The Hartford Stadium Authority on Tuesday abruptly postponed its first regular meeting since May less than three hours before it was scheduled to take place at city hall.
Sean Fitzpatrick, executive director of the stadium authority and director of development services for the city, said in an email Tuesday that the postponement was caused by a scheduling conflict involving an Arch Insurance executive.
Patrick Nails, a senior vice president with Arch, was expected to brief the authority on the completion schedule of Dunkin' Donuts Park. The meeting has been rescheduled to Dec. 20, at 3 p.m.
In the email, Fitzpatrick also addressed some confusion caused by the release of the completion schedule summary. In the summary, put together by Whiting-Turner Contracting, some items, including the temporary certificate of occupancy, are shown as being completed April 19, 2017, while the ballpark is scheduled to host a home opener April 13, 2017.
Fitzpatrick told the authority that it is anticipated that the ballpark will open in stages with partial temporary certificates of occupancy that will allow the team to get into the park to prepare for the home opener.
Not expected to be completed in time for that game is the barbecue pit area in left field and an adjacent ramp.
Fitzpatrick said the worst-case scenario would see an opening day April 13 with that one amenity unavailable to the public until April 19.
The last time the Hartford Stadium Authority held a regular monthly meeting, city officials expressed doubt that the developers of Dunkin' Donuts Park could achieve the May 17 deadline to hand over the baseball stadium to the Hartford Yard Goats for a May 31 home opener.
Their skepticism turned out to be well-founded, as the deadline was blown, and the team never played a "home" game closer than Norwich. The developers, Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford, were fired, and work was also shut down for more than four months, resuming in mid-October with a new contractor at the helm. CLICK TITLLE TO CONTINUE
City seeks better understanding of brownfields, market, with new study
TORRINGTON >> The city is working to turn brownfield sites, which are common in the city and can decrease surrounding property values, into economic boons, using a new brownfield-area revitalization study.
Valarie Ferro of Good Earth Advisors and Geoffery Fitzgerald, manager of civil engineering with BL Companies, came before Economic Development Commission and other city officials Tuesday to give an overview of the study, which is being largely funded by a $200,000 grant received from the state in January.Aspects of the planned study include a market analysis, with the aim of bringing the people and demographics of Litchfield County into Torrington — the city’s status as the center of a micropolitan area was noted during the discussion — consideration of past environmental studies, and design of potential infrastructure projects, including the Naugatuck River Greenway and a pedestrian plaza on Franklin Street, if that five-way intersection is permanently closed.The aim is to leave the city with a strategy for the future of the brownfields that dot the city, Ferro said. There is more than one million square feet of “underused and blighted” property space in Torrington, officials said in a request for proposals regarding the study in June. “We don’t want to leave you with just some ideas and just data,” said Ferro. “You need to understand how to move forward.” The former Nidec factory and Stone Container properties were listed as areas of focus, because they have the most potential for redevelopment, according to Mayor Elinor Carbone, and the state has already become involved in their respective futures. Redevelopment assessments are to be compiled for both as part of the study process.
Economic Development Director Erin Wilson noted that issues for these properties were common to others in the city, and that working with property owners on redevelopment strategies — such as was done at 18 Mason Street — can lead to fruitful results. CLICK TITLLE TO CONTINUE