EDMUND H. MAHONY
The Gold Star Memorial Bridge soars 200 feet over the Thames River in Connecticut’s southeast corner and for half a century it has given motorists an unobstructed view over New London Harbor, past Fishers Island and into the North Atlantic.
That is about to change.
In coming weeks, the tops of enormous tower sections for offshore windmills — 300 feet tall and 20 feet around — will rise above the bridge from the harborside, the most visible component of an ambitious, $300 million commitment by the state not only to renewable energy but to Connecticut’s long-ignored maritime economy.
After a rocky start, the Connecticut Port Authority is about to complete a redesign and rebuild that has transformed the decrepit Admiral Harold E. Shear State Pier and established it — and by extension New London Harbor — as a principal staging point for construction over the next decade of offshore wind farms on hundreds of thousands of acres of the continental shelf.
More importantly, the rebuilt State Pier Terminal, with state-of-the-art infrastructure, heavy lift capacity and access to freight rail, will allow New London — Connecticut’s only natural deep water harbor — to compete into the next century against other East Coast ports for heavy cargo.
“For the first 10 years it is going to be devoted primarily to offshore wind,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, the 2nd District Democrat who has been involved in the project since its inception. “But at the end of the day, this pier still belongs to the state of Connecticut and it’s being built for 50 years, 100 years in the future. It is building a really strong engine of economic growth.”
The pier project is nearly complete after some remarkable engineering challenges and staggering cost overruns.
To create a pier platform designed to support pressures of up to 5,000 pounds per square foot, the port authority contractor, Kiewit Corporation, had to drive nearly 700, 30-inch and 42-inch steel pilings as far as 100 feet through building-sized boulders and granite ledge to reach bedrock.
Drills 4 feet in diameter were employed to pierce the ledge. The work consumed, among other things, nearly 5 million pounds of steel, 10,000 yards of concrete, 22 miles of electric cable and hundreds of thousands of tons of stone fill.
The cost more than doubled over four years, from less than $100 million to about $300 million. A variety of officials now attribute the dramatic increase to early estimates of project costs that were woefully inadequate but acknowledge mismanagement and ethical lapses early in the construction process.
The CT Port Authority is rebuilding the pier with two partners, electric utility company Eversource and the North American division of Orsted, a Danish multinational and global leader in offshore renewable energy. Most of the work is complete, and control of all but a small portion of the now 40-acre pier has been turned over to the port authority’s operator, Gateway Terminal of New Haven.
Eversource and Orsted bought into the pier to support their joint venture to build three windmill farms on big, empty stretches of consistently windy ocean leased from the federal government about 35 miles southeast of Rhode Island. The partnership financed a third of the new state pier’s cost and is picking up a share of the overruns. It is committed to paying another $20 million over the next decade to lease the pier as a support base.
The partnership’s three wind projects, known as South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, are among about 20 now planned by a variety of groups on the continental shelf between Virginia and Maine. South Fork Wind is on track to be operational later this year and, if so, will be the first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters, according to utility experts.
When the turbines are assembled in New London, shipped offshore and connected to the electric grid, the three wind farms will generate a combined 1.7 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power about 1 million homes, according to project records.
South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind will deliver electricity to New York by cable to East Hampton on Long Island. Revolution Wind’s energy will reach the New England electric grid by cable to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and produce power for 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, according to Eversource.
Last month, Eversource announced that it is selling its share of the joint venture to partner Orsted in order to concentrate on its core business, the distribution of electricity. Officials of both companies said Orsted has agreed to the $625 million buyout, which they said had not closed last week and will not affect either the wind project or the pier development and lease.
Should anyone peer down from the Gold Star this month, what they would see is a big, flat, gray 40-acre, crushed stone field mostly surrounded by the harbor. There are two berths for arriving and departing ships, both capable of supporting loads of up to 5,000 pounds per square foot. The rest of the pier is rated for loads of up to 3,000 pounds per square foot. The concrete and steel substructure is buried.
Cranes are arriving and will connect the 100-foot tower sections of the first South Fork Wind turbines, which are scheduled for delivery to New London on June 25. There are three, 100-foot sections in each tower. Orsted is building a specialized ship, the Charybdis, which will be docked at the pier and has been designed to carry the assembled, 300-foot tower sections — vertically — to the wind farm sites.
Until the Charybdis arrives, the tower sections will be shipped offshore on another ship in 100- and 200-foot-long sections, CT Port Authority Chairman David Kooris said.
The nacelles and turbine blades are scheduled to arrive at the pier in July and August, according to Orsted. Foundations for the towers — 40-foot high, 120-ton concrete blocks — are at ProvPort, Rhode Island’s deep water port, and will be shipped from there.
“This is absolutely imminent,” Kooris said. “All the various components for the first six turbines will be on the site: the blades, the nacelles, the tower sections. And the workers onsite will be assembling those components and doing as much of the work offshore as possible.”
Connecticut’s stake in offshore wind extends beyond saving a pier it let crumble into decrepitude: Gov. Ned Lamont has set a goal of having the state run entirely on zero carbon energy by 2040 and the legislature made the goal a law last year. Even so, the state’s governmental interest in renewables, including wind, predates the law.
Two decades ago, Connecticut committed to acquiring an ever-increasing percentage of its energy requirements from non-carbon and renewable sources, such as wind, sun and nuclear.
It was soon apparent that renewable ventures, with their significant start-up costs, were not attracting enough investment. To meet the state targets, the legislature authorized DEEP, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, to offer renewable developers long-term — up to 20-year — contracts, known as power purchase agreements, as a means of spurring investment.
After a slow start, offshore success in Europe and the recognition that there is a lot of wind just over the horizon generated new interest and investment in the northeast. The federal government, a decade ago, began leasing offshore tracks in the northeast to renewable developers.
In 2018, DEEP ran what promises to be the first of successive auctions that led to a power purchase agreement with Orsted’s Revolution Wind. A year later, in another auction, it signed an agreement with Park City Wind, a Bridgeport-based operation owned by Avangrid, which owns United Illuminating.
Together, Revolution and Park City have contracted to provide Connecticut with 1,108 megawatts of electricity, just over half of the 2,000 megawatts the legislature has authorized DEEP to buy. DEEP estimates the two projects will meet about 20 percent of the state’s energy needs.
In spite of progress on the state pier and the Eversource-Orsted offshore projects, a new challenge to wind development is impacting projects everywhere, in particular Avangrid’s Park City Wind. The causes are global: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic, higher interest rates and inflation. And they demonstrate the difficulty of locking in long-term energy contacts.
Industry and regulatory sources say Avangrid is trying to renegotiate its contract with Connecticut, as well as a similar deal with Massachusetts. The company is taking the position that price increases and supply chain problems beyond its control have left it unable to operate profitably under the terms of the contracts.
Among other things, the war in Ukraine, by sharply reducing the flow of Russian natural gas to heavily dependent Europe, started a race for a limited supply of offshore turbine components among countries trying to shift quickly to alternate energy sources. Inflation, interest rates and lingering post-pandemic supply chain bottlenecks are driving costs, too.
“So Avagrid is trying to renegotiate,” said State Sen. Norm Needleman, the Essex Democrat who chairs the state legislature’s Energy & Technology Committee. “In a normal business agreement, not with the state, you could talk about it. But in a state contract, you just can’t negotiate the terms because there are all these other parties out there that bid.”
DEEP won’t discuss talks with Avangrid, but said it intends to enforce its contract.
“The Park City Wind project was selected by Connecticut through a competitive bidding process, resulting in a contract between Avangrid and the electric distribution companies,” the agency said in a statement. “DEEP expects Avangrid to fulfill its obligation to build Park City Wind and honor its commitment to Connecticut ratepayers to deliver the offshore wind it promised.”
Avangrid spokesman Craig Gilvarg said, “Avangrid is working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the global price increases outside of its control and deliver these important projects to Massachusetts and Connecticut.”
There is concern that the financial issues affecting Avangrid could slow progress across the industry. But there is optimism as well that existing momentum combined with rich development incentives delivered by the Biden administration will ensure continued growth.
Offshore wind, and the state pier as a focal point, already is exerting an effect on New London Harbor, once one of the country’s wealthiest and most important. A century and a half ago, New London was the world’s second-most important whaling port behind New Bedford, and its ship owners were among the financiers of the industrial revolution.
Enthusiasm over a decade of offshore wind business and the prospect of New London re-emerging as a commercial port has started talk of expansion among existing marine commerce and construction businesses, as well as new interest in unused industrial properties up the Thames River in Ledyard and Montville.
Contributing to talk of a renaissance, the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics is wrapping up $850 million in improvements to his shipyard across the harbor in Groton. And the U.S. Coast Guard has announced it is building its national service museum near the state pier in New London — just downriver from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Two months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for Connecticut in its decades-long fight with New York over what to do with the spoils dredged from New London Harbor.
The decision cleared the way for offshore disposal of the dredged materials, guaranteeing continued passage through the harbor — not only for the submarines berthed at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, but for deep draft vessels at a new state pier.
Camp Sloper secures funding to finish pond dredging in Southington
Christian Metzger
SOUTHINGTON — YMCA Camp Sloper secured $500,000 in additional funding this past legislative session, giving the East Street outdoor center the remaining money needed to dredge Sloper Pond.
State Rep. Chris Poulos, D-Southington, spearheaded funding authorization in the House of Representatives, convincing his fellow lawmakers of the environmental value and necessity of preserving the pond.
The funding will be allocated through a Department of Energy and Environmental Protection grant and was adopted as part of the state’s two-year budget by a 139-12 vote on June 6.
Sloper Pond has been naturally filling up with silt, and eventually would have turned into a shallow marsh — making it unusable for swimmers at Camp Sloper. The $500,000 gives the YMCA, which owns the pond, the final push it needs to complete the project. Dredging is expected to be completed sometime in the summer of 2024.
For Poulos, the project's necessity was not only environmental but for the good of the community as well. Having attended the camp when he was a child, he understood the value of preserving it for the benefit of future generations and their families, he said.
“We went there because they had a camp and it was something to do in the summer. We got physical activity out of it, we got social and emotional growth and development out of it, interacting with kids. It was a really positive experience,” he said. “Now the fact that this facility brings in over 4,500 kids a year to help maintain that type of experience, I think is critical in our day and age. It keeps kids active, interacting socially with other kids, doing physical activity in a lot of cases, and just being kids. It's truly an asset for our community. It's a Southington gem, it's a community gem.”
The Y identified the dredging project as a priority almost 20 years ago as part of a master plan of development and conservation in 2003. In 2018, the Y managed to secure $3 million in grant funding for the project, but price increases made completing the project difficult. In some cases, estimates for the work came in as high as $12 million.
Eventually the Y secured a contract with a company that would dredge the pond for $3.6 million. That led Southington-Cheshire Community YMCA CEO Mark Pooler to reach out to Poulos, bringing him out to the camp to discuss the possibility of securing the last $500,000 needed for the project.
“Once he got elected, he was one of my first calls,” Pooler said. “I've known Chris for a long time, and he has always been a really great supporter of the YMCA and the Southington community.”
By the end of the project, over 125,000 yards of silt will have been removed from the bottom of the pond, not only deepening it but improving its overall health.
An important part of the project is ensuring the longevity of the pond, to prevent the buildup of mud and grasses at the bottom so that it won’t have to be dredged for years to come. The solution being implemented is a drawdown valve, so the water level of the pond can be lowered in the winter, which controls vegetation growing in shallow areas.
The second method is the installation of culverts along the four tributaries that feed into the pond, each with drainage areas so the silt can be filtered away and not allow as much to enter as it would naturally. Other improvements are being made to the property, in addition to the dredging, including a new pavilion, improved sewer lines, bathrooms, and a splash pad.
Over 10,000 people, many of whom aren’t members of the YMCA, also use the pond and the trails around it aside from the campers who attend each year. With so many people using the pond, Pooler and Poulos are proud to work on preserving its legacy in the community.
“It is really a community resource for everybody in Southington and a lot of surrounding communities,” Pooler said.
Jonah Dylan
HARTFORD — The city could enter tax-fixing agreements with developers of the massive project that would essentially create a new neighborhood just south of downtown.
In a letter to City Council, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said public subsidies would be necessary to complete the Bushnell South project.
"As we know, development in urban settings often contends with financing gaps and, like other projects in downtown Hartford, the development feasibility analysis undertaken for the Bushnell South planning effort concluded that public subsidy will be required to attract private investment and implement the plan," Bronin wrote.
The proposed agreement would allow the mayor to enter into tax-fixing agreements with developers of the project. The tax agreements can be up to 15 years and can have a two-year construction period, with the opportunity to extend that to three years with city approval. Developers looking for a tax-fixing agreement would need to explain to the city why it's necessary and submit a narrative explaining the community benefits of the project, according to the resolution.
Annual taxes under the agreement would be six percent from years one to five, 7.5 percent from years six to 10 and nine percent from years 11-15.
In order to qualify for the project, developments would have to have 30 percent of project hours worked by Hartford residents and 15 percent of hours worked by minority/women business enterprises, according to the resolution. Residential projects must have at least 20 percent of units of affordable housing.
Officials first unveiled the Bushnell South project in October 2021, outlining a sweeping plan for residential and retail buildings in the area south of Bushnell Park.
"The long-term goal for the redevelopment of this area is not simply to make better use of surface parking lots, but to create a new Hartford attraction in the form of a multi-use residential area on the south side of the Olmstead-designed Bushnell Park," the project's website says. "We hope to create a new residential and entertainment-based attraction for the city that would better connect the downtown central business district with the Hartford Hospital Health Care complex and the broader neighborhood lying to the south of the State Capitol."
Last year, the Capital Region Development Authority chose the Michaels Organization as the preferred developer for one of the parcels.
In addition to the apartments and retail space, the broader plan includes wider sidewalks, outdoor dining and performance venues and a new community square. All told, officials say, the development would bring over 1,800 residents to the area, with more than $400 million in development construction value and over 63,000 square feet of retail space.
There's still no timetable for the overall project, but Bronin said Monday he is excited to see the first project move forward.
"The overall Bushnell South redevelopment is a hugely important opportunity to reconnect Main Street to the Capitol, and reconnect Park Street down to Bushnell Park," he said. "The overall plan will take years to develop, but there are some really important big steps that we can take in the very near future."
Stonington, state begin talks about controversial viaduct plan
Carrie Czerwinski
Stonington — Town and borough officials said they’re optimistic that the state Department of Transportation is paying attention to their questions about a $25.5 million plan to replace the Alpha Avenue viaduct.
First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough said town officials met this past Tuesday with DOT staff, who she said were receptive to hearing quality-of-life, economic and public safety concerns.
Chesebrough said town and borough officials would meet with the DOT again in four weeks after the DOT reviewed both a $13.3 million significant repair option to the viaduct as well as the controversial plan to replace the sole egress from the borough at a $3.8 million cost to the town.
DOT spokesman Josh Morgan said in a statement Friday that the local input on the project was vital and the agency would continue to work with local officials and stakeholders to determine the best option to meet the needs of the community and ensure the safety of the bridge, which is officially called the Frank Turek Viaduct.
The plan to replace the 83-year-old bridge announced last month would require closing off Cutler Street as well as Mathews/Main Street as well as taking private property through eminent domain including parking lots, “a part of a building,” and portions of a boatyard.
A photograph of the building included in the report shows the Stonington Community Center (the COMO) Thrift Shop on Cutler Street, and, though not identified, the sole boatyard near the viaduct is Dodson’s Boatyard which uses property along the viaduct to store boats in the off season.
Matthew Haugen, COMO executive director, declined to comment about the DOT plan other than to say the thrift shop is an integral part of the organization.
Bob Snyder, the owner of Dodson’s Boatyard said on Friday he would reserve comment until he had more information on the extent of the project.
Replace or repair options
The replacement plan and three other repair options were detailed in a report produced by an engineering consultant the DOT hired for the project, CHA Consulting Inc. of Mansfield.
The replacement plan would provide a 75-year life span with little required maintenance while the extensive repair option would come with higher maintenance costs and extend the bridge life span by only 50 years, making replacement a more cost-effective option in the long term. The consultant’s report recommends an extensive $13.3 million repair option that takes no land and leaves Cutler, Main and Mathews streets open.
“In four weeks, we should have more definitive information,” Chesebrough said.
She said her understanding is that DOT would consider options for the replacement plan that would not dead end the roads under the viaduct, and would do more research into the repair option.
“They came into the meeting strictly thinking it was an economic decision that they made, and the cost benefit analysis they made, without understanding the real-time impacts, was to replace the bridge,” said Borough Warden Michael Schefers on Wednesday. He too said the DOT representatives seemed receptive to local concerns.
Town Engineer Chris Greenlaw, said Thursday that he raised multiple issues at the meeting that were not identified or accounted for in the report, including potential water displacement and drainage issues caused by a proposed embankment used to raise the ground level beneath the bridge and a need to upgrade or relocate the 83-year-old drainage system which would potentially be under the embankment.
He explained that without an upgrade, the integrity of the embankment could be compromised if the drainage system were to fail.
“There should be an upgrade to our drainage that is consistent with their plan such that, when the state leaves, we don’t have a failure in our drainage that is on our tab,” he said.
He also noted potential safety issues if the height of the bridge is raised to comply with federal regulations for clearance over rail lines. He said increasing the height would also increase the steepness of the roadway as it intersects Water Street, which may be at odds with highway regulations which specify how intersections with skewed alignments should be handled.
Borough Fire Chief Jeff Hoadley also raised safety concerns including the proposed plan to dead end roads under the viaduct.
In fact, road paving this past week caused Water Street to be impassable, and all traffic had to pass under the viaduct on Main Street to exit the borough.
He also noted that alternate plans will have to be developed for any construction work on the bridge because all the borough’s first responders live outside the borough, and the proposed one-lane alternating traffic pattern proposed for both repair and replacement could cause significant impacts to response time.
“Our objective is to make sure this gets done for the best of not only public safety but the community as a whole,” he said.