February 7, 2022

CT Construction Digest February 7, 2022

Northbound Gold Star Bridge project to begin this spring 

Kimberly Drelich

A long-planned project to repair and strengthen the northbound span of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge is slated to begin this spring.

The span, which carries nearly 60,000 vehicles each day between Groton and New London, is rated in poor condition and is in need of work but poses no safety risk to the public, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The recent collapse of a bridge in Pittsburgh put renewed focus on the safety of bridges and infrastructure across the United States.

Bart Sweeney, transportation division chief of the DOT's bridge unit, said the Gold Star, the longest bridge in the state, is inspected every two years and no deficiencies were found that would require the bridge to be more frequently inspected or closed.

"If the lowest rating is greater than or equal to 7, the bridge is classified as Good; if it is less than or equal to 4, the classification is Poor. Bridges rated 5 or 6 are classified as Fair,” according to the Federal Highway Administration. The Gold Star's northbound span's deck and superstructure received a 4, or "poor" rating, while its foundation received a 5 or "fair" rating, after the inspection done in 2019.

Sweeney said the "poor" rating serves as an indicator that a bridge needs repairs or replacement and is the reason why DOT initiated the project for the northbound span. "Generally speaking, once a bridge becomes poor, it has many, many, many years of safe service life ahead of it is but that is the indicator we generally use to initiate projects," he said.

"Structures can be in poor condition for decades and still carry all traffic safely," he added. "We don’t like them to stay in poor condition for very long so that’s why we get a project initiated, and we try to advance it as quickly as possible. This bridge poses no threat to the public at all as far as the safety of the bridge."

He said the state agency adheres to national standards and the comprehensive inspection program entails examining all over the bridge, including the foundation, superstructure, deck and joints.

The project will address the poor condition of the bridge and also the strength of the bridge so it is able to carry permitted loads. Currently, heavier vehicles that require a permit, such as fully loaded dump trucks, have to bypass the Gold Star and take a 17-mile detour, he said.

Project to repair and strengthen the northbound span

The DOT is tentatively eyeing a 2030 completion date for the nearly $300 million project to repair and strengthen the northbound span. The span was built in 1943 and underwent a rehabilitation project in the 1970s, with additional maintenance performed over the years.

The project will have three phases. The first two will focus on strengthening the bridge so it can carry heavier loads, as well as addressing deteriorating or corroding components, Sweeney said.

The first phase, "Phase 1A," calls for strengthening and improving the condition of the truss spans, he said.

DOT awarded a roughly $50 million contract to Aetna Bridge Company of Warwick, R.I., for the initial phase, DOT project engineer Keith Schoppe said. The company is preparing to set up staging areas underneath the bridge in anticipation of starting the project on April 1, though the date depends on the weather.

The initial phase, which will include winter shutdown periods, is anticipated to be completed in June 2025.

Schoppe said DOT does not expect the construction to have a significant impact on drivers nor create traffic delays. 

To take some weight off the bridge during repairs, the DOT expects to close a right lane and shoulder — with traffic drums and signs — while it works on the right side of the bridge and then switch to close a left lane and shoulder when it works on the left side, he explained.

Cranes, lifts and other machinery stationed on state property underneath the bridge will be used to offload materials up to access platforms; the work will be visible from the water or underneath the bridge, but not to people driving across the bridge, he said.

That phase will be followed by "Phase 1B," which calls for improving and strengthening the girder spans. DOT also anticipates much of that work will be performed underneath the bridge and will not have a significant impact on traffic.

The final phase, "Phase 2," calls for replacement of the bridge deck, among other improvements. Traffic restrictions will be determined during design development.

Though it's still too early to know details, the last two phases are expected to each take about two to three years, and DOT would aim to start them on the heels of the prior phase or possibly slightly overlapping with the prior phase, Sweeney said.

While DOT initially had anticipated starting the project yeas ago, it said the timeline was pushed out due to the complexity of analyzing the structure and designing the project to ensure the bridge would be strengthened appropriately.

Sweeney said the project, which will receive a combination of state and federal funding, was planned prior to the new infrastructure law and was going to move forward regardless of the bill's outcome.

Meanwhile, DOT finished in 2018 a large-scale maintenance project on the southbound span, which was built in the 1970s and underwent a rehabilitation project in the 1990s, Schoppe said.

The southbound span is in "fair" condition, or in a state of good repair, with the superstructure and the deck rated 5 and the foundation is rated 6, according to DOT. 

Multiuse path feasibility study

The DOT is studying the feasibility of adding a multi-use path to the northbound span or widening the existing path on the southbound span, Sweeney said.

DOT found that widening the current northbound span for a multiuse path would add too much weight to the structure to be feasible. A multiuse path could only be accommodated within the existing width of the bridge, such as by narrowing lane and shoulder width and/or by removing a lane, so there are a lot of "undesirable aspects" of adding a path, he said. It would cost between $17 million and $20 million.

Before concluding its feasibility study, the DOT decided to also study the feasibility of widening the 5-foot path on the southbound span to 8 feet. DOT is expecting that option would be more cost-effective and feasible but it won't know until the study is finished, Sweeney said.

Once the DOT wraps up its study, it will look at the pros and cons of each option and determine which one to recommend for advancing as a project, he said.

"They're still both on the table," Sweeney said. "We haven’t discounted the northbound yet but it's got to be looked at with the southbound before we make a decision."


State watchdog criticizes Connecticut Port Authority, offers recommendations

Greg Smith

The Connecticut Port Authority was already facing a public perception problem, having faced criticism and scrutiny from state lawmakers over past financial and personnel issues.

new report issued by a state watchdog group, the State Contracting Standards Board, is unlikely to change that perception.

The board said it has identified issues and possible violations of state statute committed by the Connecticut Port Authority during its time working toward the redevelopment of State Pier in New London.

The Connecticut Port Authority and Office of Policy and Management both dispute some of the findings, and are at odds with the board on the question of whether the port authority even had the legal authority in 2020 to enter into a public-private partnership and sign the development agreement for State Pier.

The board released a report on Friday with a list of recommendations and concludes, among other things, that the port authority should adopt ethics and communications standards to limit any real or appearances of conflicts of interest.

That specific recommendation stems from the board’s examination of the circumstances surrounding a $523,000 success fee that was part of a $700,000 payment to Seabury Maritime Capital, a contractor hired by the port authority in 2018 to help find an operator — Gateway Terminal, which also operates New Haven's port — for State Pier.

Henry Juan, an employee of Seabury, was a port authority board member until about a month before Seabury was chosen by the port authority to conduct the work. Juan was present for discussions leading up to a vote to hire Seabury.

“While he abstained from the vote, he did not recuse himself and there are questions included in the report about whether or not he had any knowledge that would have changed or helped his company’s bid in that work,” said State Contracting Standards Board member Lauren Gautier, who authored the report.

Additionally, Seabury ultimately was paid a $523,000 success fee, which did not appear in the original solicitations for bids for the work but later was included in Seabury’s contract.

“Meanwhile other prospective bidders thought this wasn’t even an option,” Contracting Standards Board Chairman Lawrence Fox said. “It’s just terrible in terms of open, fair bidding. I mean, I can’t think of anything that’s less fair.”

The board also questioned if the success fee was even legal, since there is a state statute prohibiting so-called finders fees.

“One could make an argument a success fee is a finder’s fee by another name,” Fox said.

And while the port authority officials argue success fees are common in their industry, the Contracting Standards Board in its report said it “does not believe that they are appropriate for government contract work.”

The board discussed the report at a meeting Friday and renewed a commitment to work with the port authority to develop comprehensive procurement procedures. It already has compiled a draft manual in concert with the port authority.

The investigation taken up by the board was prompted by a 2020 complaint about the port authority's practices and focused on the authority's procurement procedures “and its accountability to the citizens of Connecticut” related to the State Pier development, a $235.5 million project that is well underway on the Thames River in New London.

Fox reiterated that the port authority, a quasi-public agency with two paid employees, is underfunded as is his own board. “There is an underinvestment by the state in the infrastructure for the agencies that have to do it (procurements) and there’s certainly an underinvestment by the state for the watchdogs that are supposed to watch it," he said. "What could possibly go wrong?"

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, said she intends to restore the additional funding to the State Contracting Standards Board that was stripped from the budget by Gov. Ned Lamont last year. The board was to get about $450,000 to add staff. She said that will be a topic of discussion during the upcoming legislative session but the money was critical to helping provide oversight.

The report also calls into question whether state statute gives the port authority specific authority to execute public-private partnerships.

That might be a question for the state legislature, some members concluded, since the port authority argues the Harbor Development Agreement falls outside the parameters of the statute.

“The CPA is making infrastructure improvements to its own facility at the State Pier, with a portion of the capital funds coming from private sector partners,” the port authority asserts in a rebuttal to the report.

The port authority is no stranger to controversy and was heavily criticized following a whistleblower complaint and reports of financial misconduct under former Executive Director Evan Matthews and former authority board Chairman Scott Bates. The result was hearings, state oversight of the port authority and recent legislation that demands more reporting to the legislature as work at State Pier proceeds.

In a statement, port authority Executive Director John Henshaw, who was hired in 2020, and current authority board Chairman David Kooris responded to the report and questions from The Day.

"As a result of OPM's consultant's work in 2019 and early 2020, the CPA Board adopted several updated policies and procedures designed to address concerns raised in the multiple outside audits conducted at that time,” the statement reads. “The SCSB has identified additional general concerns and we continue to express our willingness to advance additional policy and procedure updates to our board pending detailed recommendations from them."

State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, issued a statement critical of the port authority and said “there is zero excuse why a quasi-public entity cannot follow its own procedures.” She said the report raises questions and requires further investigation and legislative reform to ensure compliance and prevent any misuse of funds.

“As lawmakers, we have worked in a bipartisan fashion to craft and pass legislation to reform the authority, but this latest report proves we have more work to do,” Somers said, in part.

“This is more than just not following simple procedures. This is about a few individuals entrusted with millions of taxpayers' money, making crucial decisions which have long-term impact on our region and entire state. There is so much at stake ... that it is without question the public must have confidence the CPA is following procedure to the letter of the law. The report clearly shows this is not the case,” Somers said in a statement.

In response, the port authority issued a statement saying it disagrees with Somers’ characterization that the Contracting Standards Board’s report identified significant ongoing problems at the authority.

“The procurements that the SCSB was looking at happened years ago before our policies were updated," the statement reads.


Biden to sign order mandating PLAs on federal construction projects

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday requiring project labor agreements on federal construction projects over $35 million, according to a White House fact sheet

The order, which is effective immediately, will impact $262 billion in federal construction contracts and affect nearly 200,000 workers. 

Nevertheless, the new executive order does not apply to work funded by grants to non-federal agencies, which includes the bulk of the projects funded under the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a senior official told Reuters

Biden is expected to sign the executive order at Ironworkers Local 5 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on Friday afternoon. The White House claimed that the order will help alleviate management issues and coordination on major construction projects.

"This helps projects get completed on time and helps the government get the best value for taxpayers' dollars," the White House statement said. 

A PLA is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between employers and labor organizations that establishes terms of employment on a specific construction project. They are often required on construction projects that involve state or federal funds.

Associated Builders and Contractors lambasted the executive order, saying that Biden's agenda will reduce competition between builders and raise construction costs.

"PLAs steer contracts to unionized contractors and workers at the expense of the best-quality nonunion contractors and workers who want to compete fairly at a price best for taxpayers," Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs said in an statement.

Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives for Associated General Contractors of America, said the AGC was eager to see the details of the order, but found it confusing that the administration would try "to solve a problem that doesn't exist." Construction workers have seen demand for their work increase, Turmail said, making it a workers' market.

Empowering unions

Mark Erlich, fellow at Harvard's Labor and Worklife Program and retired executive of the New England Carpenters Union, said the advantages of PLAs are many.

"On larger projects, PLAs allow for an uninterrupted access to skilled labor working under standardized and uniform terms and conditions," he said. "I believe their value has been established and most of the objections have been refuted."

In addition, Erlich said that Community Workforce Agreements, which are a type of PLA that includes language to bring workers of color and women into construction careers, effectively expand diversity in the industry.

Biden has made it clear that empowering unions is an important part of his platform, and he has long said that increased infrastructure spending will "drive the creation of good-paying union jobs."

Unionization has been in decline across the country for decades, though construction's percentage of union members has stayed above the nationwide average, according to new government data. Last year, 12.6% of workers in construction were union members, a slight decrease from 12.7% in 2020.


Apartments plan approved at former Kmart location in Milford

Saul Flores

MILFORD — Multi-family housing proposed at the plaza that formerly housed Kmart is closer to becoming a reality after a recent approval by the planning and zoning board.

The developer, CDP Milford, LLC, has proposed a zone change for 589 Bridgeport Ave. — a site that contains several buildings housing Ocean State Job Lot, Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Taco Bell, as well as a small strip mall adjacent to Bridgeport Avenue with a Subway, a liquor store and other vacant space.

John Knuff, representing CDP Milford LLC., said the developer went back and updated the proposal to match the changes the board had proposed.

“It’s a proposal that the board has well-received, and we appreciate the efforts by Attorney Knuff and his clients to add materials that may not have been required,” said Vice-Chairman Robert Satti.

Some of the changes made included decreasing the minimum acreage from 15 to 12, making 10 percent of the dwelling units created affordable housing as defined under the 8-30g statute and adding solar panels to offset electrical use of 40 kilowatts of power.

The 10 percent of units being offered by the developer as affordable would be counted under 8-30g statute, which aims to increase affordable housing in municipalities by allowing developers to override local zoning rules in certain housing projects, and the points will go towards the city’s subsequent moratorium.

“You get more points for 60 percent than 80 percent,” said Knuff. “That’s why the reference to 8-30g is very important because it requires us to make half of them at 60 percent and half of them at 80 percent. The overall point of this is that we are more than holding our own with this addition to the regulation.”

Zoning board member Marc Zahariades questioned whether Milford, which is not at 10 percent citywide now for affordable housing, should require more than 10 percent for new projects going forward.

“The easy answer to that is that it might not make a difference,” said David Sulkis, city planner and executive secretary of the P&Z board,. “For every dwelling unit built in this city, that’s a new dwelling unit that is adding to the denominator. So one of the things the city is working on is a housing affordability plan which is being conducted with a consultant from the South Central Regional Council of Governments.”

The current zoning for the proposed area does not allow for residential uses.

The amendment ties any proposed multi-family with a significant enhancement to the remaining commercial buildings on the site. The language calls for requiring residential buildings to contain a minimum of 15 acres and a minimum of 600 feet of frontage on Bridgeport Avenue and removal or renovation of the five existing structures by replacing new or altered structures devoted to commercial use and complying with architectural standards.

The goal is to create an attractive multi-family residential development to appeal to various residents, according to Knuff, adding that to achieve the goal, developers have to comply with a list set by CDP Milford, LLC.

Some requirements include no more than 36 dwelling units in a single multi-family residential building, indoor residential community amenities such as a club room, fitness center, cinema room, co-working space and/or a prep kitchen, EV charging stations, bike share systems, and outdoor residential amenities such as pool and lawn game area.


CT airport authority aims to buy Bridgeport’s Sikorsky for $10M

BRIDGEPORT — The Connecticut Airport Authority is willing to pay the city up to $10 million to purchase Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

“We have decided it would be in our best interests to try to pursue an acquisition,” Kevin Dillon, the authority’s director, said Friday. “It’s easier to accomplish. It’s a lot cleaner.”

When it was publicly revealed in mid-November that the authority, which operates Bradley International and five other state-owned airports, wanted to add Bridgeport’s Stratford-based Sikorsky to its portfolio, leasing the facility was also on the table.

But Dillon has since voiced his preference for a sale. And this week the CAA board made that option the official way forward, approving a “term sheet” outlining the requirements of Dillon’s final negotiations with Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration and specifying the authority’s end goal is to own Sikorsky at a sale price of $10 million.

“That does not mean if for some reason we can’t reach an understanding on the acquisition we won’t come back and revisit a long-term lease,” Dillon noted.

Bridgeport for the past few years has been trying to lure regular commercial passenger service back to Sikorsky after those flights ended there over two decades ago. The facility currently caters to business, charter and private planes, but the old passenger terminal there was demolished.

The challenge for the Ganim administration and any interested private airlines has been that Sikorsky has an annual operating deficit of around $500,000 and it will take millions worth of infrastructure upgrades to again offer commercial passenger flights.

A recently released study that the city co-commissioned with tenants Atlantic Aviation and Three Wing Aviation on the airport’s unrealized economic potential concluded Sikorsky could reap millions for the state from new taxes and fees, jobs, a positive impact on property values and by attracting other businesses, but a new passenger terminal alone will cost at least $15 million.

Enter the CAA which, Dillon, Ganim aides, Sikorsky tenants and other airport advocates have argued, has the ability to obtain those infrastructure dollars and the expertise to take Sikorsky to the next level and make it an important part of Connecticut's transportation infrastructure and economy.

Dillon said he hoped to be able to finalize a deal with Bridgeport so that the CAA will take over Sikorsky by year’s end.

“So long as it (the deal) follows the provisions of the term sheet,” he emphasized.

As for the $10 million sale price, Dillon noted that is contingent upon Bridgeport being able to prove under Federal Aviation Administration guidelines that the city over the years has spent that much out of its operating budget, excluding airport revenues, to keep Sikorsky running.

Because the FAA has invested lots of money into Sikorsky, Bridgeport is prevented from simply selling off the facility and realizing a profit. So, for example, proceeds from current leases and fees there must be reinvested back into the site.

The CAA’s term sheet, which the authority provided Hearst Connecticut Media Friday following a Freedom of Information Act request, also requires the CAA to offer employment to all existing airport employees “no earlier than Aug. 1 2022” and to retain the name.

In December the Ganim administration, for marketing purposes, re-christened Sikorsky as the “Bridgeport Sikorsky Memorial Airport,” angering some who saw the change as an affront to Igor Sikorsky, the aviation engineer and icon after which the facility was named in 1972.

“The CAA agrees to operate the airport under the name ‘Bridgeport-Sikorsky,’” specifies the term sheet.

If the CAA buys the airport it would also be required to set up an advisory committee “to ensure communication between the airport and the local community.” Efforts over the years to improve Sikorsky and host more flights there have met intense opposition from some Stratford residents.

According to the term sheet, the CAA will also undertake a study to determine if there are any environmental issues at Sikorsky that need to be addressed ahead of the infrastructure upgrades. The document notes, “The existence of contamination and required remediation may affect the date of sale and, possibly, the city’s ability to sell the airport.”

Bridgeport’s City Council will ultimately have to vote to sell. And as of Friday Council President Aidee Nieves said she would prefer leasing to the CAA.

“I’m at ‘no sale,’” Nieves said, arguing she believes Bridgeport would be better off continuing to own Sikorsky, particularly if the goals of upgrading the site and bringing back commercial passenger service could still be accomplished through a lease with CAA.

Meanwhile Councilwoman Maria Pereira, who has frequently complained whenever the city invests dollars into the money-losing airport, on Friday held the opposite opinion. Pereira believes if the Ganim administration has a chance to get out of the airport business, it should take it.

“I can tell you in my 12 years in politics I’ve never had a constituent talk about the airport and how much we need one,” Pereira said Friday. “It might be important to corporations, but it’s not important to the people I serve every day.”

David Faile, head of the Friends of Sikorsky organization representing the facility's’ users, said he is “neutral” on CAA being the owner versus versus leasing and managing the property.

“I don’t know what would be better for the airport and users,” Faile said, adding he is worried about what the future holds for “small general aviation light craft” at the site and is seeking assurances those planes and their pilots will still have an important role there.

“It’s the small general aviation airplanes that do lots of takeoffs and landings and keep the traffic count up at the airport,” Faile said. “A lot of FAA funding is based on how active the airport is.”