Mary Biekert
The state Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin a $13.9 million project to repair the Niantic River Drawbridge on May 4. The yearlong project will require periods of alternating one-way traffic.
According to the DOT, the project will consist of replacing the 27-year-old span’s structural steel, deck joints, and electrical and mechanical systems, along with repainting and repairs to the bridge deck and control house.
Brent Church, the DOT project engineer overseeing the work and who also oversaw the rehabilitation of the Mystic River Drawbridge from 2010 to 2013, said the project will be done in three phases. The state has hired Middlesex Corp. of Littleton, Mass., to do the work.
The firm has worked on bridge projects throughout the state, including a $300 million project in Norwalk in 2015 and parts of the Pearl Harbor Memorial or "Q" Bridge in New Haven, according to the company’s website.
The first phase of the drawbridge project consists of removing and replacing existing joints on the bridge’s deck, as well as reconstructing what are known as the bridge’s deck ends. Church said construction will move from the Waterford side of the bridge to the East Lyme side and will alternate repairing both lanes as work progresses westward. Bridge repaving will begin around late July, while repainting will concurrently take place below the bridge throughout the summer.
Daytime roadwork and alternating traffic patterns will take place only until Memorial Day, when construction is then set to be done overnight between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., allowing the bridge to be open for normal traffic flow during daytime hours through the summer until Labor Day, when downtown Niantic and Waterford see some of its highest traffic counts.
After Labor Day, construction and alternating traffic flows will return to daytime hours.
“Our promise to the towns was the fact that we wanted to finish all the deck work this construction season, or before Memorial Day next year. We want all the deck work done so we are not impeding any traffic flow — especially as Exit 74 interchange work is coming up.”
Phase II of the project will then take place over winter months, which Church said will mostly consist of under-bridge work, such as painting and replacing mechanical and electrical systems, requiring the drawbridge to close from Nov. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.
Drawbridge closure will restrict tall boats from passing back and forth under the bridge during that time, Church said. Fishing and shellfishing boats, as well as most recreation boats, will still have room to pass under the bridge while it is down. Environmental protection and noise control techniques will also be enforced during construction. Paint catch basins, for example, will be installed under the bridge to catch and prevent removed paint from falling into the river, Church said. The paint on the bridge now is not lead paint, Church said, and is not hazardous.
All roadwork on the bridge is to be completed by May 2021. Phase III of the project will then begin with the DOT and contractors completing bridge painting and drainage work. The project is expected to be complete by December 2021.
Police from both Waterford and East Lyme will help direct traffic while construction is ongoing.
The project has been in the works since 2018, Church said, after the DOT performed emergency work on the bridge’s mechanical and electrical systems and found that it was in need of a much greater rehabilitation. The DOT has been working with both Waterford and East Lyme ever since to plan the project, Church says.
The project comes right after the DOT, in combination with Costco contractors, performed significant on- and off-ramp alterations at the Exit 74 interchange of Interstate 95 last summer. The DOT is also planning to carry out an even larger Exit 74 interchange project, with plans for extensive Route 161 widening and an Exit 74 bridge replacement. Construction for that project is anticipated to begin in summer or fall 2021 and is expected to last three to four years.
“After we started conversations about the bridge, we were trying to plan all these other projects at the same time. Costco was last year and then the interchange job is coming out next year, so we were trying to squeeze this (Niantic River Drawbridge project) in between,” Church said.
He said there are plans in place should an accident occur on I-95 and divert traffic down to Route 156 and over the Niantic River, as often happens as drivers attempt to bypass roadblocks on the highway during accidents. He said workers will be able to quickly lay down and anchor what he described as road caps over any ongoing construction areas to quickly allow cars to drive over the bridge should the need arise.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as unpredictable weather, Church said schedules, bridge repairs and roadwork may change slightly from week to week. The DOT will post status updates on the project to both the Waterford and East Lyme websites every three weeks, letting residents know what’s to come and the status of the project.
“It’s a difficult location, but it has to get done and we want to get in and out as quick as possible,” Church said. “Once it’s done, you won’t see us out there for another 25 to 30 years.”
Church added that an email account specific to the project has been set up to allow residents to submit comments or ask questions about the project. Anyone with questions regarding the project may email DOT.info.nianticriverbridge@ct.gov.
Bids for New London school project are millions over budget
Greg Smith
New London — Bids on the largest phase of the $108 million high school construction project have come in at more than $4 million above projected budget estimates.
Combined with escalating costs for construction management, currently more than $14 million, the project is now $5 million beyond what the city can afford and has forced designers to revisit elements of the new school.
Project Manager Diana McNeil, with the Capitol Region Education Council, said the various construction bids for the so-called north campus totaled about $4.2 million over the $77 million budget estimates. A review is underway in order to “value engineer” the project and find areas where costs can be reduced without compromising the quality of the new school and keep it within budget, she said.
A portion of the phased project was expected to begin later this year and continue over the next four years.
“There isn’t a penny to spend beyond the $108 million,” McNeil said. “Every little detail of what is in those contracts is being reviewed.”
The school is already significantly over the original $98 million budget due to multiple changes in the scope and funding sources through the years. There is little left in contingency funds.
A review of bid documents will take place over the coming weeks in hopes of cutting costs and avoiding any further delays in the construction schedule for the school, which already has seen delays since voters approved $168 million in funding for two schools in 2014.
The news on the construction bids, presented to a school building committee on Friday, comes even as the city contemplates adding at least $5 million to the $49 million plan to reconstruct Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in order to build a new Central Office building for administration. The state recently estimated the Central Office demolition and construction costs to be closer to $8 million, though a representative from the south campus project manager, Colliers, said that figure appears to be high.
It is unclear yet whether portions of the high school project might be rebid or if the COVID-19 pandemic might further affect the construction schedules on either project.
A school building committee on Monday discussed the changes to the high school project, with Board of Education and building committee member Bryan Doughty expressing his frustration. The construction manager for the project is Newfield + Downes. “I’m just so incredibly disheartened and concerned about this project,” Doughty said. “We haven’t been on budget yet. And you think we can value engineer down to the $108 (million) so we’re on budget or below at some point?”
“We don’t have a choice,” McNeil said. “We’re looking at every single number as an adjustment.”
The south campus addition was debated by the City Council and is expected to come up for discussion and a possible vote at its May 4 meeting.
Meetings related to identifying cost savings in the high school project are ongoing.
Under the current plan to create an all-magnet school district, New London High School and the adjacent Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut will be home to high school students in STEM and an International Baccalaureate magnet programs, along with students from grades sixth through 12 in the arts magnet program. The Bennie Dover campus will host middle school students in the STEM and International Baccalaureate programs.
Working or Unemployed, Construction Workers Are Screwed
Hamilton Nolan
With no firm national standards about shutting down construction projects as the coronavirus stalks the nation, building trade unions and their members are facing a grim multidimensional crisis: high unemployment, faltering pensions, lost benefits, plummeting dues revenue—and, for those who do remain on the job, the constant question of whether they should quit in order to protect their health.
Leaders at two major building trade unions this week described an increasingly desperate economic climate for their members. Eric Dean, the president of the 130,000-member Ironworkers Union, said that 30% of his work force was “idle or sitting at home,” and that unemployment continues to rise by the day. Jim Williams, vice president and organizing director at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said that unemployment among his members has shot up to 50% in the course of a single week.
The price of this sudden economic dislocation is vast. In particular, health care benefits of the idled construction workers are now at risk, just when they need it most. Also at risk are the unions’ pension funds, which have cratered along with financial markets, endangering retirement benefits for thousands of members. The multi-employer pension fund of the Ironworkers, which was still recovering from the losses of the 2008 financial crisis, has now taken a 20% hit on its portfolio. “With our hours down and our investments down, a blind man can see that we’ve been severely impacted,” Dean said.
It is hard to know whether those construction workers who are still working should be considered lucky. In the coronavirus epicenter of New York, and in most other states, construction workers have been deemed “essential employees,” allowing their employers to keep them building on crowded job sites, where “social distancing” is next to impossible. Dean said that, for the first time in his career, he has seen construction projects building worker housing on job sites in order to keep workers isolated and close to their workplace. At the same time, ironworkers have told him that walking through empty streets in order to get to their still-active building sites “makes me feel that I’m expendable.”
“There’s a growing sentiment among our workforce that maybe [unemployment] should be higher, because of the health and safety risk of being on a construction site,” Jim Williams said. Among IUPAT members, there is a split down the middle between those who are more concerned about health risks, and those who say “I need to work so that I have my health care coverage, so that I can continue my way of life. It’s a Catch-22.” Though the union can see why work on critical infrastructure like the electrical and water systems must continue, commercial construction “can certainly slow down,” he said. “I don’t believe building a millionaire’s or billionaire’s condominium” is worth the risk.
The stimulus bill now working its way through Congress is only a half measure, as far as the unions are concerned. A coalition of building trade unions lobbied for four “planks” to be included in the bill: better unemployment compensation, healthcare coverage that won’t lapse, shoring up pension funds, and a large investment in national infrastructure—a policy that Democrats and Republicans have been talking about for years without ever making it a reality. Of those four goals, only the unemployment compensation aspect will be fulfilled in the current bill. Already, the building trades are pushing for another stimulus bill after this one is completed. “This was the relief bill,” Williams said. “There’s going to have to be a recovery bill, too.”
Besides the direct impacts to members, the unions themselves are now staring down the second-order consequence of widespread unemployment: a dropoff in union dues. IUPAT has already told its locals that it is waiving member dues for the month of April as a relief measure, and will assess again after that. Waiving dues, however, inevitably eats away at the revenue unions use to maintain their staffing—and to lobby Congress for whatever comes next. According to Dean, the Ironworkers lost around 15% of their members after the 2008 recession, a figure they are using as a baseline now. But everyone acknowledges that this time could be worse. And Dean suspects that if work dries up, more members closing in on retirement age may decide to go ahead and retire early, further weakening the active membership numbers.
If there is any silver lining, it is that whenever the industry picks back up again, non-union construction workers may feel more enticed to organize, after witnessing their higher-paid union colleagues make use of at least a marginal safety net during this crisis. “It presents the opportunity for the labor movement to get it right,” said Williams. “Any time we miss that, we miss a golden opportunity.”
The additional $600 unemployment benefit will start in Connecticut Monday. Here’s what you need to know
Shawn McFarland and Megan Merrigan
The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which adds $600 to weekly state unemployment benefit payments began April 24, Connecticut labor officials said this week.
Here are a few answers to common questions about the additional payment:Will everyone see the additional $600 on Monday?
Everyone who has had their unemployment claim processed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic will begin seeing the additional $600 weekly payment on Monday. There is no separate application necessary.
On Thursday, the Connecticut Department of Labor said they had processed 80% of claims. The agency said it’s on track to reduce the processing time to one week from six by Sunday, thanks to technology improvements and increased staffing.Will the payments be retroactive?
All unemployment claims will be paid retroactively to the date they were filed. The same applies to the $600 federal stimulus funds.
How long will the payments last?
How long will the payments last?
The $600 payments will be in effect from March 29 through July 25. Those who received benefits since March 29 without the additional $600 will be provided the funds in a lump sum that will be given in about a week.My unemployment runs out soon. Will I be getting the 13-week extension?
According to the Department of Labor, each situation is different, so applications must be reviewed for eligibility. If your initial unemployed status was not tied to the coronavirus pandemic, you should connect with the Department of Labor.
When can self-employed individuals and independent contractors expect benefits?
When can self-employed individuals and independent contractors expect benefits?
Like the additional weekly $600 benefit, the Department of Labor had to program the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program into its system. Those can be applied for beginning April 30. Once that claim is processed, you will begin receiving payment.