The nation’s crumbling infrastructure was a hot topic during the 2016 presidential campaign, but most of Connecticut’s bridges are in good condition, according to an inventory report.
The state Department of Transportation reports that of the 4,004 bridges it owns and maintains, roughly 270, or 14.8 percent, are in poor condition. That’s down from 331 in 2011. Among the 1,290 bridges owned and maintained by municipalities, 159, or 8.1 percent, are in poor condition. That’s down from 193 in 2011.
The worst bridge collapse in state history occurred in 1983, when a 100-foot section of the Mianus River Bridge in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich plunged into the water, taking two cars and two tractor-trailers with it. Three people were killed and three others seriously injured. Many more would have died or gotten hurt if the collapse hadn’t happened at 1:30 a.m.
Today, the state makes a concerted effort to ensure that Connecticut’s bridges are safe for motorists, DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said.
“How unique bridge types age and wear over time is very well understood today,” he said. “Also, modern bridges aren’t built like the Mianus – new designs are more redundant. All of our structures are inspected routinely on a two-year cycle, and if we have something on a bridge we want to keep a closer eye on, we will increase the inspection cycle as necessary.
“We don’t take chances with bridges,” he added. “For example, if we have a worst-case-scenario safety concern, we will close a structure before allowing the public to travel on it. When it comes to bridges, we will always err on the side of caution, so the public can sleep well at night and so can we.”
Nursick said Connecticut is “on par with other winter-weather states” in terms of bridge conditions.
“The short of it is that our bridges take more abuse than structures down South,” he said. “We have high traffic volumes, heat, cold, snow, ice, plowing and road treatment materials to contend with, just like other cold-weather states. So it goes without saying that it’s more intensive to stay on top of our infrastructure then areas with more mild climates. But, compared to our neighbors, we’re doing pretty well.”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 52.5 percent of the 5,136 bridges in Massachusetts are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete; in Rhode Island, it’s 56.5 percent; New York, 38.8 percent; New Jersey, 35.5 percent; New Hampshire, 32.4 percent, and Vermont, 26.1 percent.
THE DOT BRIDGE REPORT rates Connecticut’s 5,294 bridges on a scale of 0 to 9 for each of three parts: the deck, the superstructure that supports the deck, and the substructure that is the bridge’s foundation. Zero is considered the worst and 9 the best.
Nursick said any part of a bridge that is rated a “4” or less is considered in poor condition and becomes a priority to get fixed or replaced.
No part of a state bridge ranks higher than an 8. Very few parts rank below a 3. Most have scores between 5 and 7.
But for two exceptions, no bridge ranked poorly for all three parts. Those exceptions were Frederick Street at Copper Mine Brook in Bristol and Boom Bridge Road at the Pawcatuck River in North Stonington. Both received all 0s.
Only one received a “1” ranking – the deck for Sucker Brook Road bridge at Sucker Brook spillway near Highland Lake in Winsted. The Sucker Brook bridge has been closed for a few years while the project awaits state funding.
There were a few “2s” issued – Society Road at Interstate 95 in East Lyme for the substructure; Sherman Street at the Yantic River in Norwich for the superstructure; and Water Street at the Housatonic River in Canaan for the superstructure.
The examination comes as the nation’s leaders attempt to address what they see as a crumbling infrastructure. Congress last year approved a five-year, $305 billion transportation plan. In addition, more than half of the states since 2013 have boosted transportation spending through higher taxes, fees and borrowing. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Getting There: Doomsday scenario at the DOT
As the Legislature reconvened last week in Hartford, all were buzzing about filling the predicted $41 million deficit in the state’s budget. While the governor is again pledging no tax increases (we’ve heard that before!), the alternatives are looking pretty ugly.
For the state’s Department of Transportation, it may mean drastic cuts in services and staffing with long-term implications … what I’m calling the Doomsday Scenario.
A few months ago, the state’s Office of Policy and Management asked each department to come up with a plan for an additional 10 percent budget cut on top of last year’s reduction of the same amount. Commuters will remember how that last cut was partially funded: with fare increases. But this time, the DOT planners say that’s not an option because it would take too long.
According to the DOT’s own plan, here’s what another 10 percent budget cut would mean to that agency and everyone in the state:
Highways: Patching potholes and repairing cracks on our highways would be curtailed. Tree removal, fence and drainage repairs would be reduced or eliminated. Highway rest areas (not service areas) would be closed, replaced by porta-potties.
Impact: Worsening road conditions causing more damage to cars and costly repairs. Predictions of vandalism at closed rest areas.
Winter: Elimination of 220 contract snow plow operators would mean cycle times for plowing would go from 2 hours to 3-plus hours on secondary roads — but not Route 1, Interstate 95 or the Parkways.
impact: Less plowing means some secondary roads will be impassible during heavy storms.
Rail service: Postpone the planned opening of the new Hartford Line — commuter rail from New Haven — to 2018. Reduced weekend and weekday off-peak service on Waterbury and Danbury Lines and a 50 percent cut in service on Shore Line East.
Impact: Delay in opening Hartford Line could make the Feds request refund of $200 million in construction funding. Cuts in rail service would affect state’s economy and “attractiveness” to people looking for a new home. Highways could gridlock as more commuters are forced to drive.
Bus service: Cut subsidies to municipal transit districts by 50 percent. CT Transit bus service would be cut 15 - 20 percent. Funding for new bus purchases would be cut.
Impact: Greatest impact on minority, economically stressed populations with no transportation alternatives. Less bus service, more car traffic, more delays. Funding cut would mean new bus purchases would have to be bonded instead of bought with 80% Federal funding.
DOT staff: Layoffs of 6 percent of existing workforce, 213 positions. Curtailed planning for widening I-84 in Danbury, West Rock Tunnel on Wilbur Cross, design of I-91/691/ Route 15 interchange and planning and design for widening I-95. Staff cuts in Finance and Administration would delay contract awards, contractor and municipal payments, highway safety campaigns and environmental permits.
Impact: Though one of the largest state agencies as measured by number of employees, these layoffs on top of last year’s staff cuts would leave DOT 15 percent below staffing needs projected for 2019. Planning for new projects would be in gridlock, possibly imperiling federal funding grant applications. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Planned Outlet Center At Rentschler Field Moving Forward
A planned outlet shopping center is now due for completion in the spring or summer of 2018, Mayor Marcia Leclerc said Thursday.
The $100 million initial phase of The Outlet Shoppes at Rentschler Field is to include 350,000 to 425,000 square feet of retail space. Additional construction is to include up to 800 units of housing, along with entertainment venues, restaurants and a hotel.
Initially expected to be completed in November of this year, the project has been delayed, Leclerc said, in large part because a marketing analysis study that the state required took longer than expected.
But plans are moving forward with the opening Wednesday of bids for infrastructure construction at the site. Eleven companies are vying for the work, which is to include road and utility construction. The Capitol Region Development Authority is handling dispersion of a $12 million state grant the town received for the work.
The CRDA will now study the qualifications of the low bidder, Mather Corp., to ensure the company can do the work. Also, the town council is to decide on a tax abatement for the project, Leclerc and council Chairman Rich Kehoe said.
The developer, Horizon Group Properties Inc., is to lease the approximately 50 acres for the planned outlet center from Pratt & Whitney, part of United Technologies Corp. The shopping center is to be the first retail development on the 650-acre Rentschler Field since Cabela, the outdoor sports and lifestyle store, opened in 2007.The closest outlets to East Hartford are on the shoreline, in Clinton and Westbrook. Outlets tend to offer shoppers merchandise directly from manufacturers at cheaper prices. Horizon now operates 10 outlet centers across the nation and is developing another four, according to the company's website, www.horizongroup.com. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
West Haven City Council to go behind closed doors to discuss 6 pending eminent domain lawsuits for The Haven
WEST HAVEN >> The City Council will go into closed session Monday night to discuss six pending eminent domain lawsuits related to The Haven upscale outlet mall, but representatives on three sides said they did not believe that a settlement is at hand.
“I don’t know that,” said city Corporation Counsel Vin Amendola. Asked about why the agenda calls for an “executive session on pending litigation” and lists the docket numbers of six eminent domain lawsuits, Amendola said, “It’s my obligation to keep the City Council apprised of what the negotiation strategies are and what the potentialities are. But I really can’t say any more than that.”He did point out that even if there were some sort of settlement in the works, there would be no vote Monday. That’s because Monday’s meeting is posted as a special meeting — the result of there being too little time between the date of the meeting and the date that the council’s annual calendar of meeting dates was filed with the City Clerk.The laws governing a special meeting don’t allow the agenda to be amended. While the exective session is on the agenda, no action that might follow it is posted, Amendola said. “We have an executive session. We have to apprise the council on something,” Amendola said. “But there are no plans to vote on anything. The city initiated eminent domain proceedings in late August after developer The Haven Group LLC was unable to come to terms with several property owners within the area designated for the project, which would stretch between the West River and First Avenue from Elm Street just beyond Main Street.
Representatives of two of the key defendants in the suits — both of which have in turn sued the city, alleging that its use of eminent domain to try to acquire their properties violates their constitutional rights — said they were unaware of any possible settlements on the horizon. Robert McNamara of the northern Virginia-based Institute for Justice, a lawyer for Robert McGinnity and his family, who have sued the city, reiterated that their two properties — including the house at 241 First Ave. in which McGinnity grew up — “are not for sale at any price.” “I don’t know what the executive session is about,” but it is not about any settlement of the McGinnitys’ cases, McNamara said.“The McGinnitys’ position always has been that we’re perfectly willing to talk about the backyards” and any other solutions “that will allow the McGinnitys to keep living there,” McNamara said. “But that seems to be a conversation that nobody else seems to want to have.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Tappan Zee Bridge Reaches Steel Milestone
“Over a period of about 18 months, we have erected approximately 88,000 tons of structural steel on the Hudson River,” said Neil Napolitano, area manager of approach spans on the massive bridge project.
“At one point, we put up five assemblies in five days. It sure showed what can be done when you have the commitments of some of the most capable fabricators and builders in our country.”
The new bridge is being constructed mere yards from the original bridge, which opened in 1955. A replacement is needed to accommodate the heavy traffic on the bridge, which has increased from fewer than 40,000 vehicles per day to more than 140,000. When completed, the new bridge will be one of the widest bridges of its kind in the world and one of the longest cable-stayed spans in the nation.
The 1,200-ft. (366 m) main span serves as the iconic signature of the new bridge. The 419-ft. (127 m)-high towers support more than 14 mi. (22.5 km) of stay cables and create a sleek and clean aesthetic.
The new bridge is being built by Tappan Zee Constructors, a design-build LLC composed of Fluor Corporation, American Bridge Company, Granite Construction Northeast and Traylor Bros. Three AISC/NSBA member fabricators, High Steel Structures, Hirschfeld Industries and Canam-Bridges, will together provide more than 110,000 tons (99,790 t) of structural steel while playing a key role in the support of more than 7,700 jobs. And just as the fabrication was provided domestically, so too was the steel production, with 160,000 tons (145,149 t) of steel plate for both the superstructure and sheet pilings coming from AISC-member ArcelorMittal.
The design-build approach generated more than $1 billion in savings compared with the state and federal cost estimates.
“Our prefabricated steel sections have been a huge value to us,” Napolitano said. “Our subcontractors have done a significant amount of their work at offsite facilities, rather than on the river, which would be more time consuming.”
The new Tappan Zee Bridge features a steel girder system, with center-to-center spacing of 25 ft. (7.6 m) and additional floor beams to support the deck. Essentially, it's the same system used on bridges throughout the United States, simply on a far greater scale.
“This has been a fantastic project to work on,” said John O'Quinn, formerly of Hirschfeld Industries and now with High Steel Structures. “It's very straightforward in terms of fabrication and constructability, which makes our job as fabricators much easier. We spoke numerous times with the design team on how best to construct a bridge of this magnitude. Everything we used on this bridge can typically be seen on bridges the general public drives over/under in their daily travels. The only major difference being, most of the Tappan Zee girders are 12 feet deep and weigh upwards of 100 tons.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Newfield Road, Highland Avenue projects in Torrington may be halted after state funding cut
TORRINGTON >> The city will lose approximately $259,000 in state capital funding after a recent cut, Mayor Elinor Carbone said Wednesday. This might cause the city to halt planned projects on Newfield Road or Highland Avenue.
The state announced a $30 million reduction in the amount of funding allocated through the Local Capital Improvement Program (LoCIP) to municipalities across the state Dec. 29. This reduction in funding might impact planned paving projects on Newfield Road and Highland Avenue, Carbone said Wednesday. It is unclear, as the city enters budget deliberations for the next fiscal year, whether this lessening of funding can be absorbed, she said.The city announced that it was planning a second phase of paving on Newfield Road in December, while drainage work on Highland Avenue was conducted in October aIn a letter to municipal officials, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes said towns had been credited “additional $30 million in the LoCIP program for each year of the FY04-05 biennium” through a Public Act in 2004, but “the aggregate bond authorization to fund this entitlement” had not been increased accordingly.
“At this time, the situation has reached an inevitable breaking point as the amount of approved LoCIP projects has reached the $825 million bond authorization, which is all of the funding that is lawfully available to reimburse towns and cities,” said Barnes.Winsted is losing roughly $89,000 in LoCIP funding, Mayor Althea Candy Perez 1 Comment. Town Manager Robert Geiger said expected cuts had been budgeted, allowing the town to weather the reduction of resources with, hopefully, minimal impact.nd November as part of a prospective construction effort which includes new curbing, walkways, and the reconstruction of the road.