South River Street Bridge (Interim Repair)
Project Update as of September 21, 2018:
Rebuilding a Bridge-South River Street on the Road to Reopening
The Town is pleased to announce that a contract to repair the damaged South River Street Bridge was awarded today, September 21.
A bi-annual safety inspection of the bridge done in Spring, 2018 found that its condition had deteriorated significantly since the 2016 inspection, citing extensive corrosion on the steel beam ends over both abutments with perforations in the beam webs. The Connecticut State Department of Transportation recommended “immediate closure of the bridge to all vehicle traffic” with subsequent emergency repairs to the structure. In line with these instructions,traffic was immediately banned.
The bridge is scheduled to be completely replaced in 2021. The Town Council acted swiftly to appropriate $100,000 to immediately address the emergency situation.
Town Manager Christopher Bromson says, “This is a dangerous situation that requires repairs for the safety of the residents of South River Street, and any visitors to the area. Our Finance Department expedited the process and was in full cooperation with the Department of Public Works to get the project moving. Acting Public Works Director Donald Nunes should be commended for his diligence and steadfast focus in creating a successful outcome and we thank all of our residents for their patience during the past few months while we implemented the necessary steps in this process.”
Acting Public Works Director Donald Nunes has plenty of reason to be proud of his department. “We are on schedule and have overcome several, major hurdles to secure not only a design, but a contractor based on an aggressive timeline to repair. DPW can only empathize with the residents about the inconveniences posed from the bridge closure but rest assured that staff from many divisions have been working diligently not only in the foreground but in the background making certain the interim repairs happen as discussed.”
“Our elected officials are ‘bridge builders’ in multiple capacities,” states Town Manager Christopher Bromson. “They prioritized the repairs as soon as they were informed that the State DOT closed the bridge, and would never risk public safety for expediency. While the closing of the bridge caused in convenience, this was not a problem we could put a band aid on. This project had to be done right.”
Hammonasset Construction, LLC has completed the interim repairs. State DOT has inspected the bridge repairs and recommended reopening the bridge to vehicular traffic. The bridge was reopened on Friday, November 2nd. Funds are in place to for complete replacement of the bridge in 2021.
The Town thanks the South River Street Bridge residents for their continued patience during this trying time, and appreciates their continued cooperation.
For questions or concerns, please call DPW at 860-763-7560.
Contact: John Cabibbo, P.E - Assistant Town Engineer
Street: South River Street
Designer: GM2 Associates
Inspector: TBD
Contractor: TBD
