August 5, 2025

CT Construction Digest Tuesday August 5, 2025

Three Connecticut Projects Win Regional America’s Transportation Awards

Julie Devine

Three Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) projects won regional awards in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

“The America’s Transportation Awards shine a spotlight on the vital projects state DOTs deliver for their communities to enhance safety, expand mobility for users, deliver a better quality of life for residents and visitors, and keep our economy moving,” said AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon. “The America’s Transportation Awards competition continues to show us that state DOTs are able to transform communities in a variety of ways. And as Congress works toward a new federal surface transportation bill, lawmakers need to only look at the tangible benefits that states deliver to their customers through examples like these winners to see why robust federal funding to states is so important.”

Twenty-six transportation projects were submitted by seven states and the District of Columbia in the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) region for this year’s competition. Projects are judged in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development, Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology and Innovation, and Safety.

All nominated projects first compete at the regional level against projects of their own size (small, costing up to $10 million; medium, costing between $10 million and $100 million; or large, costing more than $100 million).

The top three scoring projects from regional competitions throughout the U.S. will advance to the Top 12 and compete for two national honors in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards. The Grand Prize will be chosen by an independent panel of judges and the People’s Choice Award will be decided through online public voting. AASHTO will reveal both winners at its annual meeting in November 2025.

The following three projects in the New England Construction area won 2025 regional America’s Transportation Awards.

Fairfield Avenue Bridge (Operations Excellence, Medium Project)

On May 2, 2024, a collision involving a flatbed tractor trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel on Interstate 95 led to a fire that engulfed the Fairfield Avenue Bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut, for nearly two hours, heavily damaging the two-span structure.

CTDOT worked with contractors on a round-the-clock bridge demolition and highway reopening plan — removing tons of concrete, steel, and debris, then milling and repaving the roadway. They reopened northbound I-95 lanes on the night of May 4 — just two days after the fire — and southbound lanes on May 5.

After the reopening, reconstruction of the bridge began. The emergency replacement project was awarded to Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc., of Yonkers, New York.

The work finished in just seven months — ahead of schedule and almost $3 million under the original budget. The overall bridge replacement and demolition was completed for $16.8 million. Spanning approximately 170 feet in length, the new bridge over I-95 includes sidewalks on both sides.

“I’m incredibly proud of the exceptional teamwork and dedication of the Connecticut Department of Transportation and construction crews to expedite this project and reopen the bridge months ahead of schedule,” said CTDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “Every partner on this project overperformed the ambitious deadlines we set in May. This is a remarkable achievement and demonstrates what we can get done for the traveling public when federal, state, and local partners share a common purpose.”

Derby-Shelton Bridge Pedestrian and Bicyclist Access Improvements (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project)

The Derby-Shelton Bridge carries Bridge Street (State Road 712) over the Housatonic River between the downtown areas of Shelton and Derby, Connecticut. Originally built in 1918, the substructure of the historic bridge remained in good condition, but other elements — including the pavement structure, parapet walls, and lighting — had deteriorated over time.

Designed by AECOM under contract to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, the bridge improvement project aimed to renovate and rehabilitate elements along the top of the structure while enhancing aesthetics and connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists. CTDOT assumed administration of the $7 million project, awarding the construction contract to Mohawk Northeast, Inc., headquartered in Plantsville, Connecticut.

Replacement of bridge parapet walls — New concrete parapet walls replicate the original, historic style. A decorative railing, matching the style of Veterans Memorial Park in Shelton, adds safety for pedestrians.

Roadway improvements — These include adding a second eastbound lane, replacing the bituminous pavement and underlaying concrete deck, and narrowing the shoulders to allow for the additional lane. An intersection in Derby was also adjusted to include a dedicated right-turn lane.

Enhanced pedestrian and bicycle facilities — A larger pedestrian space was created on the south side, alongside a track that separates cyclists from vehicular traffic and pedestrians. Textured pavement and planted buffer zones define the spaces. These new facilities connect with the Derby Greenway and Shelton’s Riverwalk.

Lighting upgrades — Outdated lighting was replaced with period-style decorative lights along the parapet walls. The new lights enhance the bridge’s nighttime visibility and adhere to dark-sky guidelines.

The rehabilitated bridge provides a more visually appealing gateway for both cities, enhances safety for non-vehicular travelers, and preserves traffic flow between the two revitalized downtowns.

Wrong Way Driver Detection System (Safety, Medium Project)

The number of fatalities caused by wrong way drivers on Connecticut highways jumped by 500 percent in 2022. But with over 700 ramps on the interstate system, CTDOT faced significant challenges in identifying countermeasures and prioritizing their deployment.To address the problem, they first conducted an analysis of ramp locations, especially where on- and off-ramps are located on the same side of the road (since national research shows these locations have a higher risk of wrong way events) and ramp locations close to establishments that serve alcohol (since impaired drivers are more likely to mistakenly enter the highway in the wrong direction). Each ramp location received a risk factor assessment to develop priority rankings.

At a cost of $40 million, CTDOT implemented wrong way detection and notification systems for 225 priority locations. The systems use video cameras to detect vehicles traveling in the wrong direction. If a vehicle is detected, wrong way signs outlined with multiple sets of red lights begin flashing to alert the driver. The system also sends notifications to the CTDOT Highway Operations Center and local state police in real time.

In the last year, these systems activated more than 300 times and helped cut the number of fatal crashes from 13 in 2022 to six in 2024 while reducing fatalities from 23 in 2022 to 13 in 2024. CTDOT is now increasing collaboration with other state agencies and municipal leaders, especially law enforcement, to target other high-risk locations.

This project tied for first in the Safety category for medium-sized projects with the Delaware Department of Transportation’s SR 299, SR 1 to Catherine Street widening project.


Connecticut DOT Project to Reconfigure the Curve on I-95 in East Lyme

Larry Bernstein

East Lyme, Connecticut, lies on Niantic Bay and is part of the Long Island Sound. The town has a steadily increasing population of nearly 20,000. Running through the town is I-95, which the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Manafort Brothers, Inc. are reconfiguring to improve safety and increase mobility.

A Clearer Path Ahead

The project is taking place along a 1.33-mile stretch of I-95. The average daily traffic along this stretch is 80,000, and congestion is common.

Safety is an issue within the project area, as there is an elevated crash rate. There are a few reasons for the higher rate, according to CTDOT. Among them is the vertical geometry of I-95.

A large hill along the highway causes a line-of-sight problem for drivers. To address this, the team is raising the highway on the south side of the interchange and lowering it on the north side. The issue occurs around a bridge.

“When the project is complete, there will be a 14-foot elevation increase on the south side and 9-foot decrease elevation on the north side to blend the curvature,” said James Therrien, a Resident Engineer for GM2, which is providing construction engineering and inspection services for the state and insuring CTDOT plans are met.

 “The project will correct the insufficient sight lines that people have while traveling along the interstate,” said Andrew Millovitsch, the CTDOT Project Engineer overseeing the project.

The project includes other elements that are also expected to help increase safety. These include:

Constructing new on- and off-ramps at Exit 74 northbound (NB) and southbound (SB). The off-ramps will be lengthened so drivers will have sufficient time to decelerate as they go around the curve to the signalized intersection. The lengthened on-ramp will give drivers enough space to speed up and enter onto I-95.

Removing a hairpin left-hand turn for Route 161 SB traffic that crosses two lanes of oncoming traffic to access I-95 NB. It will be replaced by a dedicated right-hand turn lane that accesses a new cloverleaf northbound on-ramp.

Adding a third lane between exits 74 and 75 on I-95 NB and SB. The goal is to allow locals traveling only between these exits to avoid merging with through traffic. It also enables ample room to merge for those who are continuing on the highway.

Installing new signalized intersections off the highway, allowing drivers to enter and exit local businesses.

To reduce congestion, the project will:

Widen Route 161, which runs under I-95. The team is adding turning lanes to the two traveling lanes. They are also widening the shoulders.

Add a third lane between exits 74 and 75, as noted above. This is expected to facilitate better traffic flow and reduce congestion.

The project is also contributing to the city’s goal of improving foot traffic from the highway to the shore.

The scope includes inputting sidewalks and adding a large commuter lot off northbound I-95. Drivers can exit their vehicles in the lot and walk to the new sidewalks. Previously, there were two small lots. They are being taken out of service due to the highway widening.

A final project element involves the installation of 16 retaining walls. Their size will vary from small to huge structures. The retaining walls are being installed to maintain the elevation changes.

 “If we went in another direction [and not installed retaining walls], it would have been necessary to purchase real estate on both sides of the highway to achieve the needed slope to improve the geometry of I-95,” Therrien said.

Soil Conditions and Removal

The project required the team to excavate 150,000 cubic yards of earth and 50,000 cubic yards of rock. The team has plans to use the materials for the large fills along the highway and construction of some of the new on- and off-ramps that were excavated. However, that element will occur in the later stages of the project’s eight-stage construction plan. Finding space to store the materials until then was a challenge.

“We massaged the original staging plans to free up real estate and give us a place to store the materials,” Millovitsch said. “If we wouldn’t have been successful in doing this, it would have required shipping the materials off site and bringing them back when we needed them.”

Changing the project staging and using materials on ramps and walls outside of the contract staging plans saved time and money and lessened the environmental impact.

Besides the large quantity of soils being handled as part of this project, the existing soil conditions presented other issues. The subsurface conditions found under the existing highway are substandard to build on, as it has many voids and is not a completely solid mass. This issue was not a big surprise to the team, given the landscape of East Lyme. However, according to Therrien, it made the soil difficult to work with.

“We used grout to fill the voids and stabilize the soil,” he said.

When installing temporary retaining walls to hold up existing I-95 lanes during construction, metal rods are drilled horizontally and grouted into the existing soils to stabilize the temporary walls. As grout was being installed for these stabilizing steel rods, the voids were apparent because the team needed 50 to 100 times the anticipated amount of grout to secure the rods.

This effort was essentially filling these voids under the existing highway. Large boulders were used as backfill under the old highway. To help facilitate this process, a chemical was added to the grout being used, which caused the grout to expand once it was pumped into place.

Serious About Quality Control

Located in Plainville, Connecticut, Manafort Brothers Inc. is a “demolition and construction company that performs specialty construction and demolition services as well as general contracting services,” according to their website.

Millovitsch worked with them previously. Both he and Therrien said they have been impressed with the general contractor, particularly their quality control.

“Manafort’s quality control has been exceptional, and they’ve been exceptional at self-policing quality control,” Millovitsch said.

“The general contractor is required to come up with a quality control plan, and Manafort has embraced the state’s requirements,” Therrien added. “They submit documentation on time, foreshadow issues prior to starting activities, and develop plans that mitigate constructability problems before they even happen, which has helped us move through issues prior to them actually occurring.”

 “They’ve partnered with the department during construction to keep the project moving in a positive direction, have good field supervision, identify constructability concerns, and come up with resolutions for schedule impacts,” Millovitsch said.

Manafort’s work has led to the project being both on budget and on schedule.

The project has a construction budget of $148 million. The federal government is paying 80 percent of the funds, while the state is financing the remaining 20 percent. The project is within contingency (10 percent). There have been an additional $8 million in project costs.

“The majority of the extra money has gone towards addressing the unforeseen soil conditions,” Therrien said. “Our plan was to use standard mechanically stabilized earth walls, but due to the soil conditions, we had to change to soldier pile and lagging walls which brought on scope changes and increases costs.”

Construction on the project began in April 2023. The state gave the general contractor 976 calendar days, which is four construction seasons. The target end date is November 2026.

At the time of writing this article, the project is on schedule despite the soil challenges described above.

“Great communication between us and the design team and us and the contractors has been a key factor in keeping this project on schedule,” Millovitsch said.

He also credits Manafort. “They’ve worked the past two winters and have been dedicated to working throughout the year,” he said. “We typically have a four-month winter shutdown from December to March, but Manafort has found a way to move forward during the winter months.”

If not for the soil issues, Therrien and Millovitsch think the project would have finished early and that it still might.

When the I-95 Interchange 74 Improvements project in East Lyme is completed, the section of highway will be safer. Drivers will no longer face a line-of-sight problem, as the geometry issues will be minimized. Entry and egress from the highway will be less challenging, and congestion will be lessened. Locals and tourists can also enjoy greater mobility while walking in the area.


Encompass Health seeks state OK to build $69.5M rehab hospital in Branford

David Krechevsky

Encompass Health Corp. wants to build a second rehabilitation hospital in Connecticut.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based company filed a certificate of need (CON) application on July 25 with the state Office of Health Strategy seeking approval to build a $69.5 million, 50-bed, for-profit rehab facility on property at 596, 612 & 616 East Main St.

596 and 612 East Main St. currently are residential properties, while 616 East Main St. is a commercial/industrial property. None of the properties is currently owned by Encompass Health.

Encompass Health declined to comment on the application.

A hospital or health organization is required to file a CON application for a variety of reasons, including when it wants to establish a new healthcare facility.

According to the 467-page CON application, Encompass Health, doing business as Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Branford LLC, would construct a one-story, 54,765-square-foot facility with 50 beds.

The construction price includes “land costs and the associated sitework for the property including, for example, grading costs of approximately $1.35 million, rock allowance of approximately $750,000, allowance for retaining walls of approximately $300,000, and underground detention costs of approximately $900,000.”

The facility would be Encompass Health’s second in Connecticut. It is building a 40-bed, $39 million rehabilitation hospital in Danbury, and in February it sought a six-month extension to complete construction. The Danbury hospital is expected to open in September.

The company is the largest comprehensive physical inpatient rehabilitation facility provider in the nation, with 169 hospitals in 38 states.

According to the application, the Branford facility would address “a gap in care for residents in the southeastern portion of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region and the contiguous southwestern portion of Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region.”

Encompass states there are no inpatient rehabilitation facility beds “within or proximate to the defined 21 ZIP Code service area that will be served by the proposed new hospital.”

The proposed facility would provide specialized rehabilitative care to patients recovering from a variety of injuries and illnesses, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputations, orthopedic surgery or injury, cardiac episodes and pulmonary conditions, the application states.

It adds that the facility would include “all private rooms and baths; a well-equipped therapy gym; an Activities of Daily Living suite; a dedicated outdoor therapy area; a dialysis treatment area for patients to remain on-site when dialysis is needed; activities/day room for patients and families; and sufficiently sized and appropriately designed support spaces.”

Once a CON application is filed, OHS has 30 days to review it. If it seeks additional information, an applicant has 60 days to respond.


Former massive CT landfill targeted to become source for revenue and energy. The idea is spreading

Don Stacom

The city would reap the benefits without having to worry about the maintenance or operation of the project.

Bloomfield-based CTEC Solar is planning a 14-acre solar farm on Hartford’s former landfill along I-91, a deal that’s projected to yield a few million dollars to the city over the next 20 years.

The agreement is the latest in a series of arrangements where Connecticut cities and towns are leasing closed landfills to solar energy companies.

Just last fall, Verogy completed a 2.5-acre solar project at Middletown’s capped landfill, a project expected to generate more than a million kilowatts of clean energy a year. Danbury, Bethel, Deep River, East Haven, Groton and Montville either plan to or have completed similar facilities.

The deals typically provide revenue for the host community while enabling the solar industry to cover essentially useless land with solar panels rather than taking out-of-service farmland, open fields or similar space.

Hartford leaders say the agreement will be an environmental and economic win, with the city putting up no money while getting protection from sharing CTEC’s risks.

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“With this agreement, the city will not — I emphasize not — be responsible for operation, maintenance or any damage to the array,” City Architect Julia Jack told the city council committee Wednesday. “Nor will it be responsible for any production shortfalls.

“This agreement has the potential to bring to the city approximately between $2 million to over $4 million over the 20-year period,” Jack said.

Hartford determined it had sufficient space at the Leibert Road landfill to accommodate a solar array producing about 6.3 gigawatts hours annually, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam told the city council.

“This project will be the largest solar photovoltaic development deal the city has done to date,” he wrote a memo in mid-July.

Under the contract, CTEC is responsible for designing, engineering, install and maintaining a ground-mounted array near the center of the former landfill.

Under the lease, the company would provide monthly payments and quarterly credits or rebates on the city’s energy bill.

“The city stands to significantly reduce its overall electricity cost, furthering both our financial goals and moving us further toward our climate action goals,” Jack said.

CTEC retained Waterford-based All-Points Technology Corp. to do a detailed environmental assessment of the property, and the consultant gave a favorable report last year.

“The project will meet applicable local, state, national and industry health and safety standards and requirements related to electric power generation,” according to All-Points. “The facility will not consume any raw materials, will not produce any byproducts and will be unstaffed during normal operating conditions.”

Hartford's former landfill between I-91 and the Connecticut River. (Courtesy of State of Connecticut)

CTEC will monitor the array remotely and will be able to de-energize the equipment in an emergency, All-Points said.

Eleven years ago, a smaller array was installed on Hartford’s landfill, the first time in Connecticut that such a property had been used for solar power. Solar companies have since been putting panels on everything from West Hartford’s town hall to Mystic Aquarium and Cinemark’s theater in North Haven.

Recently there’s been a flurry of similar projects at closed municipal landfills.

Verogy is pursuing plans in Deep River and Montville, and Bethel previously partnered with Ameresco for a solar farm there.

The 100-acre Hartford Landfill was once dubbed Mount Trashmore. It previously was a toxic, smelly mar on the landscape, which for generations was east of the city’s North End.

It had opened in 1940, and once was an expanding and smoldering and putrid dump overburdened with trash trucked in from more than 60 towns in Connecticut and neighboring states, The Courant has reported.


Trump administration cancels plans to develop new offshore wind projects

Associated Press

The Trump administration is canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development, the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States.

More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, the offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for “speculative wind development.”

Offshore wind lease sales were anticipated off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Maine, New York, California and Oregon, as well as in the central Atlantic. The Biden administration last year had announced a five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production.

Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies after taking office in January. A series of executive orders took aim at increasing oil, gas and coal production.

The Republican president has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. One early executive order temporarily halted offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and paused the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects. In trying to make a case against wind energy, he has relied on false and misleading claims about the use of wind power in the U.S. and around the world.

The bureau said it was acting in accordance with Trump’s action and an order by his interior secretary this week to end any preferential treatment toward wind and solar facilities, which were described as unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources.

Renewable energies such as wind and solar provide an intermittent supply of electricity when it is windy or sunny. Increasingly, batteries are getting paired with solar and wind projects to allow renewables to replace fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, while keeping a steady flow of power when sources such as wind and solar are not producing.

European companies are developing offshore wind farms along America’s East Coast.

The Interior Department is considering withdrawing areas on federal lands with high potential for onshore wind power to balance energy development with other uses such as recreation and grazing. It also will review bird deaths associated with wind turbines, which are allowed under federal permits that consider the deaths “incidental” to energy production.

Earlier this month, the department said all solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters must be personally approved by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, applauded the administration for its actions and said they were long overdue. Opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey.

“It’s hard to believe these projects ever got this far because of the immensity, scale, scope and expense, compared to relatively cheap and reliable forms of onshore power,” he said Thursday. “We’re nearly there, but we haven’t reached the finish line yet.”

The Sierra Club said the administration’s “relentless obstruction of wind energy” shows it does not care about creating affordable, reliable energy for everyday Americans.

“No matter how much they want to bolster their buddies in the dirty fossil fuel industry, we will continue to push for the cleaner, healthier, and greener future we deserve,” Xavier Boatright, Sierra Club’s deputy legislative director for clean energy and electrification, said in a statement.

Attorneys general from 17 states, including Connecticut, and the District of Columbia are suing in federal court to challenge Trump’s executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. His administration had also halted work on a major offshore wind project for New York, but allowed it to resume in May.

The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork, opened last year east of Montauk Point, New York.