WALLINGFORD — Economic development officials say an orthopaedic medical facility under construction will contribute to the beautification of a section of Route 5.
Work on Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists, 701 N. Colony Road, began late last year. Construction is progressing on the facility, which was originally scheduled to be completed this month.
Economic Development Specialist Tim Ryan said development in the area and accompanying landscaping will help “beautify the retail strip.”
“The new orthopedic group is going to enhance and improve the aesthetic look of the site,” he said.Ryan said the addition of grass in front of Quality Subaru and the plaza at 665 N. Colony Road has also contributed to the enhanced aesthetics of the area.
Metro Tools and Wallingford Wine & Spirit Co. previously occupied the property at 701 N. Colony Road. The medical group purchased the property in October 2014 and demolished the businesses to build a new office.
The project is estimated to cost about $5 million.
The new facility will offer orthopedic services, pain management, podiatry, physical therapy, diagnostic services and an orthopedic walk-in clinic.
Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists CEO Glenn Elia previously said the facility would open in September. Elia could not be reached for comment Friday.
The group also has doctor’s offices at 1000 Yale Ave., which will be converted to administrative offices after the Route 5 facility is completed. The medical group will occupy about half of the two-floor building and lease remaining space to another medical practice.
“We have a presence already in Wallingford. This is an expanded presence,” Elia previously told the Record-Journal. “We like that corridor, it provides great access to the Meriden and Wallingford businesses and communities.”
After Labor Day, another lane on the mile-long bridge will be closed to allow for additional repairs to the bridge deck, leaving three lanes open to traffic, the DOT said.
Currently, four lanes are open on the normally five-lane bridge. As part of the repair project that began in April, concrete barriers were installed along the length of the bridge to seal off the construction zone.
DOT also says entrance and exit ramps will remain open, but more lane closures may be needed during "off-peak hours."
The $30 million rehabilitation project, awarded to Mohawk Northeast Inc. and scheduled to be completed in November 2018, is intended to preserve the bridge for 25 years, DOT engineers said in a previous interview. The southbound span was built in 1973 and a rehabilitation project was completed in the 1990s.
Keith Schoppe, project engineer for DOT, said in a phone interview last week that the project has so far entailed removing asphalt, patching up deteriorating concrete on the deck, structural steel repairs and painting touch-ups. DOT is currently replacing the bridge joints and continuing to work on structural steel repairs.
He said workers have found the need for fewer patches and repairs to the bridge deck than originally estimated. The workers did find, however, the need for additional paint work and steel repairs, but the public will largely not see these repairs under the bridge and it won't impact the project's schedule, he said.
After another lane is reduced Tuesday night to allow for work in an additional area, the next steps will be for DOT to remove the asphalt in that area and work on concrete deck patching and replacing bridge joints, he said.
Once that is complete, DOT expects to start in October the process of putting down a new membrane over the section of bridge deck sealed off by the barrier, so concrete won't be exposed to elements and salt and moisture won't penetrate into the deck. That section of deck will be re-paved.
DOT expects by Thanksgiving to finish work on the left side of the southbound bridge and move onto the repairs to the southbound bridge's right side, the next stage of the project.
For this stage of the project, there will be times when DOT has to temporarily close the bridge's sidewalk. Schoppe said DOT will add signage and provide a couple of days' notice before closures.
Around Memorial Day 2018, DOT will open another lane — for a total of four — for the busy summer season.
"We're definitely on schedule, as far as hitting those milestones," said Schoppe. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stonington elementary school students will return to construction sites
Stonington — Even though students at Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools will return to active construction sites on Tuesday, school officials say they have taken numerous steps to ensure they are safe and their learning is not disrupted.
Both schools are in the midst of a $67 million expansion and renovation project that is slated for completion in January of 2019. This school year, students will attend classes in the existing buildings while crews work on the additions. Parking and traffic pattern changes have been made to each school and former grassy areas can no longer be used for recess or gym classes. At West Vine Street, floor tiles and dropped ceilings have been removed.
“We recognize it’s not an ideal situation but it will be OK for one year. The building committee feels comfortable that the buildings are 100 percent safe for staff and students,” K-12 School Building Committee Chairman Rob Marseglia said.
As for parking and traffic, Marseglia said the committee recognizes “there will be some growing pains but we don’t anticipate any problems.” Memos have been sent to parents outlining the changes with maps.
He said extensive air testing has been done and there are no signs of the asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that were used in constructing the schools 50 years ago.
While gym classes will be indoors, recess will be outside on fenced-in and paved areas.
“It was important for us and the principals that the kids get outside,” Marseglia said.
As for safety, he said the Gilbane Building Co., the contractor for the project, has installed chain link fences and locked gates so workers can get in and out without students having access to the job sites.
As for noise, he said Gilbane, which also built the high school, will work to minimize noise during the school day. If there is going to be a period of loud noise that can’t be avoided, the company will inform the principals about it and how long it will last.
Both Deans Mill Principal Jennifer McCurdy and West Vine Street Principal Alicia Sweet Dawe said their respective schools are ready to welcome back students. They added that Gilbane has been very responsive to addressing any concerns they have brought up about the construction site. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction industry stays vigilant against opioid abuse
Working in construction is rough on the body, particularly as workers age.
That's one reason the industry is more susceptible to opioid use and/or abuse. Twenty percent of the spending from construction-related worker's compensation insurance claims filed in 2015 was for opioid prescriptions. That was double the percentage of other industries, according to property casualty insurer CNA, which said the manufacturing industry was also notable for its opioid spending.
Managers at Torrington-based general contractor C.H. Nickerson, which specializes in building wastewater plants, are well aware that physical labor can make a workforce more susceptible to opioid addiction.
"If you go out on a job site and witness what these guys do day in and day out, it's pretty rough on their bodies," said Connie Tynan, C.H. Nickerson's director of human resources and compliance. "They're going to get these hurts and these strains and things, so their likelihood of becoming addicted is pretty high."
That becomes a potentially dangerous problem when heavy machinery is involved.
"One person who's incapacitated and not functioning at their full abilities because they are impaired by drugs … could kill someone," Tynan said.
That concern is why the company has been requiring pre-employment and random drug testing of its tradesmen and women since the 1990s. It's a choice. The company is not under any legal mandate to do so, said Tynan, who added that not all construction firms in the area require drug tests.
While Connecticut doesn't track the number of employers drug testing in a given year, data from Quest Diagnostics, which conducted 100,000 tests in the state last year, indicates an upward trend.
On any given work day, C.H. Nickerson employees, which currently number around 125, could arrive to the job site and be handed an envelope instructing them to report immediately to a nearby testing site for a urine screen.
If they fail the test, they are either let go or can participate in a treatment program, which could eventually lead to them returning to work.
The company can also order a drug test for an employee suspected of being under the influence. Managers received special training to recognize symptoms, which gives them probable cause under state law to test, Tynan said.
Connecticut law authorizes employers to conduct random urine tests on any employee deemed to be in a "high-risk, safety-sensitive" position. Many construction jobs fit that bill.
"We were probably one of the first contractors to do randomized testing," said C.H Nickerson President Jon Miller.
That decision has cost the company a few employees over the years. Miller recalls some workers leaving when the policy was first instituted, simply because they disagreed with it. He didn't suspect they were using drugs.
For the company, which is always in search of skilled laborers, the downside of the rigorous testing policy is that an otherwise productive worker — perhaps one who smokes marijuana outside of work hours — could fail the pre-employment test or a random screen.
"Sometimes I think it's a limiting factor in getting labor, but it's just something you've got to deal with," Miller said.
It's the price the company is willing to pay to weed out employees who use drugs on the job site. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT recovers $8.9M in unpaid wages
Connecticut state labor regulators recovered $8.9 million in unpaid wages on behalf of workers in the last fiscal year, authorities say.
The state Department of Labor (DOL) increased recoveries by $1.8 million, or 23 percent, in the fiscal year ended June 30 vs a year earlier, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Friday. Labor Day falls on Monday.
"Our working women and men are the backbone of this state, so we must ensure that they are paid for the jobs that they do and receive the wages they have earned," Malloy said in a statement.
Of the recovered total, nearly $2.4 million came through DOL's Division of Wage and Workplace Standards responding to complaints that owed wages had not been paid. More than $1.9 million was provided to employees that did not receive the required minimum wage or overtime, DOL said.
Another $3.1 million was recovered for employees when it was determined workers were paid incorrect amounts while working at public contract construction sites, and approximately $1.3 million was provided to workers though the division's "rapid response" efforts for time-sensitive situations such as business closings, the governor said.
US construction spending drops 0.6 percent in July
U.S. construction spending fell in July for the third time in four months as strength in home construction wasn't enough to offset weakness in nonresidential building and government projects.
Construction spending dropped 0.6 percent in July following an even bigger 1.4 percent decline in June, the Commerce Department said Friday. Spending on home construction rose 0.8 percent as single-family homes and remodeling offset a drop in apartments. Spending on nonresidential projects fell for a second straight month, declining 1.9 percent. Spending on government projects fell 1.4 percent.
With the recent weakness, construction spending is only 1.8 percent higher than a year ago at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.21 trillion. Analysts expect construction will provide modest support for the overall economy in the months ahead. The fall in nonresidential activity in July was the biggest setback in nearly two years, since a 2.1 percent decline in October 2015. In July, spending on offices, shopping centers and hotels all declined.
Spending on government construction projects was down 1.2 percent at the federal level and 1.4 percent at the state and local level.
The government reported earlier this week that the overall economy grew at a brisk 3 percent pace in the April-June quarter, up from a lackluster 1.2 percent gain in the first quarter, as measured by the gross domestic product.
However, spending on residential construction actually fell at a 6.8 percent rate in the spring following a sizable 11.1 percent gain in the first quarter. Economists believe the spring slowdown in home building was in part a payback after CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE