Public Information Meeting to be Held on Harwinton Rt. 4 Bridge

In an effort to keep you informed, I wanted to let you know that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (Department) will conduct a Public Information Meeting concerning the rehabilitation of Bridge No. 00425, which carries Route 4 over West Branch of Leadmine Brook, in Harwinton.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 at 7:00 p.m., in the Assembly Hall of the Harwinton Town Hall, 100 Bentley Drive, Harwinton, Connecticut.
The Public Information Meeting is being held to afford a full opportunity for public participation and to allow open discussion of any views and comments the community may have prior to progressing the proposed project into the final design stage.

Plans will be available for public review.  Department personnel will be available during the meeting to discuss this project.

BRIDGE HISTORY & REHABILITATION PLAN

This project involves the rehabilitation of Bridge No. 00425 which was built in 1959 and was re-painted in 1986.  It is a single-span steel and concrete deck structure consisting of a reinforced concrete deck supported by steel beams.  The substructure consists of reinforced concrete abutments and wingwalls founded on rock.  The wearing surface was replaced and a new waterproofing membrane was installed in 1994.  There are safety walks with two-pipe railing along both sides of the roadway.
At this time, the project is nearing completion of the preliminary design phase.  The Rehabilitation Study Report (RSR) and recommended scope have been approved, and the project will soon progress into the final design phase.  The report’s approved alternative consists of replacing the existing reinforced concrete deck and steel superstructure with new Prefabricated Bridge Units (PBUs).  The PBUs will be modular units consisting of a reinforced deck made composite with galvanized steel beams.  Other work consists of installing new precast concrete approach slabs, replacing the existing bearings, replacing the existing overlay, installing a new waterproofing membrane, replacing substandard three cable guiderail with RB-350 compliant guiderail, replacing the deck joints, and patching the existing substructure.
Based upon a preliminary screening, Bridge No. 00425 is a good candidate for Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques.  Implementing these practices can significantly reduce construction time and consequently minimize the disruption to the travelling public while also improving safety.
Superstructure replacement using conventional methods with staged construction requires one full construction season to complete the work.  Though adding an additional cost of approximately $87,000, through the use of ABC techniques, the construction duration would be substantially less than the one construction season.  More importantly, it would reduce the mobility impact time for Route 4 from months to weeks.  There are approximately 9,400 vehicles on a daily basis traveling on Route 4 that have the potential to be impacted.  Detouring the traffic allows for a drastically shortened three-day impact to the traveling public versus staged constructi on that utilizes conventional construction methods.
Construction is anticipated to commence spring/summer 2016, assuming acceptance of the project, availability of funding, and receipt of any required environmental permits.
Maintenance and protection of traffic on the bridge during the superstructure replacement shall be accomplished utilizing a detour.  The detour route shall be restricted to off peak hours over the weekend and shall extend no longer than three days.  A separate utility breakout project will be required to relocate the overhead utility wires along the north side of the bridge in order to complete construction within the allotted three day timeframe.  The detour route is approximately 4.2 miles long and consists primarily of state roads with one local road that exhibits relatively high traffic volumes for the area and truck traffic for local businesses.   Additional temporary off-peak shoulder or lane closures may be used to complete the remainder of the construction.
More detailed information is available at the Department’s Office of Engineering, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, Connecticut, during office hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays.  Anyone wishing to review the plans may contact Mr. Andrew J. Cardinali, Project Engineer at (860) 594-3315.  Plans will also be available for review at the First Selectman’s Office.  All persons interested in this project are welcome to attend this meeting and discuss the project with Department personnel.