Crews to Replace Span in Augusta
By Chuck MacDonald CEG CORRESPONDENT
When a bridge goes from tight to right, people notice. Especially when that bridge is in the state capital. The Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) decided to begin this transformation of the Western Avenue bridge located on U.S. Route 202 (Western Ave.) over Interstate 95 in Augusta.
The old bridge, nearly 70 years old, was structurally deficient and had been struck many times from the traffic traveling underneath. The bridge did not have ADA sidewalks or proper shoulders. In a word, it was tight. The new bridge will be right.
The project will include some 1,350 ft. of sidewalk, which will connect pedestrian access on both sides of the roadway. In addition to the sidewalk, the new bridge will have approximately 4 ft. of shoulder in each direction.
The new bridge will be a two span, steel girder and concrete deck construction supervised by local contractor Reed & Reed. The new bridge will be approximately 2 ft. higher than the old one and should reduce the number of strikes made from oversized vehicles traveling below.
Vt. Gov. Scott Waives Regulations to Speed Recovery From Recent Flooding
Just days after a deluge flooded a broad swath of central and northern Vermont during the second week of July, Gov. Phil Scott waived a series of state regulations to assist the recovery effort.
At least two people died as the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl deluged central and northern Vermont late Wednesday, July 10, and early Thursday, July 11. More than 100 others were rescued from rising floodwaters, VTDigger reported.
Scott signed an updated executive order early July 13 temporarily lifting
certain regulations pertaining to professional licensing, gravel and rock extraction, asphalt and concrete production, debris removal, motor vehicle registration and work in streams and wetlands.
“With so much infrastructure damage, this is critical for towns and Vermonters to access the tools needed to move forward with repairs to roads, bridges, homes, and businesses,” Scott said in a written statement.
The latest updates were added to an executive order the governor first issued in July 2023.
At that time, he declared a state of
emergency as another storm was expected to wreak havoc on Vermont. He amended that order many times over the last year and, on July 10, used it as a vehicle to address the latest emergency.
That day’s order implemented the state’s emergency operations plan, activated the Vermont National Guard, and suspended “relevant rules and permitting requirements” to respond to the storm.
Scott’s updates on July 13 more specifically waived regulations in a number of areas on a temporary basis.
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Moulton Backs Effort to Build North South Rail Link
Seth Moulton has a mission: One day, people in Massachusetts will be able to travel by train, unimpeded, from Worcester to the North Shore. Or, if they are of a mind, from Needham to TD Garden in Boston.
Because, right now, as improbable as it sounds, they cannot get there — or much of anywhere, for that matter — from here via the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) train system, known locally as “the T.”
And all it will take is finally building a 3-mi. railroad tunnel through the middle of Boston that has been talked about since 1912.
Asked if a lack of imagination, funding or urgency has gotten the state to where it is today, Moulton, the Democratic U.S. representative from Massachusetts’s 6th District, told MassLive it has “been a combination of all three. But I really want to emphasize the failure of imagination.”
access to roughly a half-million jobs.
He added it might even help the state do something about its crushing crisis of housing affordability and availability.
“It makes regional rail not just possible but successful,” Moulton wrote in the document’s summary. “It does more to boost housing than any housing bill. And it has huge benefits for climate and racial justice in historically forgotten communities. Until we
vision of many people in New England,” he told MassLive. “Now it’s a choice because we have to address the capacity problem at South Station. We can do that by expanding South Station or building the rail line.”
Building the rail link would cost between $2 billion and $8 billion, and take around five years to complete, according to Boston Uncovered.
But getting the project from drawing board to shovel-ready will likely not be easy.
“For projects like this to get to the finish line, they need a prominent champion who sees the value, and who can effectively articulate that value in the public space.”
“We keep trying to patch up the T when what we need is a transformation,” the Salem lawmaker told MassLive by phone from his Capitol Hill office. “Of any road or bridge project, this would bring the biggest transformation. We could connect every rail line in eastern Massachusetts to every rail line in the west.”
Recently, MassLive reported June 20, Moulton tried to jump-start the conversation, releasing a three-page summary of a new study, a joint effort with Harvard University’s Kennedy School, making the case for the rail link.
In it, he argued that completing the link would allow rail traffic to flow right through Boston, generate $31 billion in revenue for the state, quadruple the ridership on the MBTA’s Commuter Rail Line, and open
James E. Rooney Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
build the Rail Link, we won’t just be stuck in traffic, we’ll be stuck in the past. The question is no longer ‘Can we afford to build the link?’ but ‘Can we afford not to?’”
The study contrasts building the rail link to another often-discussed project: Expanding Boston’s MBTA South Station. For Moulton, that is a non-starter because a South Station expansion would be “obsolete in 25 years, and do almost nothing to relieve road congestion,” he wrote in the summary.
For those people who have ever spent any time sitting in traffic while trying to get out of Boston around quitting time, they know exactly what he is talking about.
“The key point here is that this has been a
Moulton brushed aside a suggestion that such an undertaking could be completed by the cash-strapped and perennially challenged MBTA, which could face a “fiscal cliff” as soon as the 2025 budget year.
If the work is going to get done, it will happen because of partnerships teaming the government with privately run planning and construction firms, he said.
“When you look all around the globe the most successful projects have been done by public-private partnerships. You bring in the most experienced contractors in the private sector and give them the proper public oversight.
“I would never suggest giving this to the [MBTA]; they don’t have the capacity” Moulton added, while stressing his respect for Phillip Eng, the agency’s general manager and CEO.
Moulton Looks to Win Hearts, Minds for Project
James E. Rooney, the president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, credited Moulton for his leadership on what he described as a key challenge for both the city and the state at large.
“For projects like this to get to the finish line, they need a prominent champion who sees the value, and who can effectively articulate that value in the public space,” Rooney said. “And [Moulton] has stepped up to that challenge.”
Among the many Bostonians for whom the cost and inconvenience of the Big Dig is still within living memory, there could be some reluctance to embrace another mammoth infrastructure project.
But in the three decades since the Big Dig, a massively expensive freeway and tunnel project linking downtown Boston to Logan International Airport, the tunneling technology has changed, and that means more benefits and less mess.
“In a number of spaces, where things are proposed, we have suffered for a good 25 years from Big Dig hangover and apprehension [over] big projects,” Rooney said. “I hope we are turning the corner, and embrace the need for big projects, including this one.
“We’re in an era in which the continued vibrancy and economic growth of the Boston/Cambridge ecosystem depends on the growth of regional economies across the state,” he continued, adding later, “We have to find again our capacity to embrace the bold like we did when we did the Big Dig. Our future depends on it.”
According to Moulton — no stranger to waging and winning campaigns — that means winning the hearts and minds of voters, and, to him, this one is an open-and-shut case.
“It’s getting more people to see the shocking results of this study, that not only point out the enormous benefits to housing and climate and racial and environmental justice, to getting around the commonwealth faster than you can today,” he said.
Thunder Creek Rolls Into Maine With New Distributor
Coop’s Truck & Equipment of Bangor, Maine, has added the Thunder Creek lineup of field fueling and service solutions to its new equipment sales lineup.
The company specializes in truck, trailer and equipment solutions for the construction and agricultural industries, including truck body fabrication, farm tractors and livestock trailers.
“We’ve had really exciting growth in our business with a focus on delivering premium truck and equipment solutions to everyone from roadbuilders to farmers,” said Cooper Marden, owner, Coop’s Truck & Equipment. “The one thing all of our customers have in common is that they typically run high horsepower equipment in their business that requires diesel, service fluids, grease and other service tools — and Thunder Creek brings us a premium solution to take care of all of that in a well-built, American-made package.”
Thunder Creek designs and manufactures innovative, premium fueling and preventative maintenance solutions that are used in a variety of industries including construction, roadbuilding, oil and gas, and utility construction. This includes the original No-HAZMAT Fuel & Service Trailer (MTT), the Multi-Tank Oil Trailer (MTO), and Service and Lube Trailer (SLT).
“Cooper is building an exciting business focused on getting the most value and utility out of every truck and trailer that leaves his lot,” said Larry Lea, vice president of sales, Thunder Creek Equipment. “Maine is a unique environment with a really diverse mix of industries and needs — Thunder Creek brings solutions for field service and fleet management that serve all of them. We’re excited to work and grow together in Maine.”
For more information, visit CoopsTruckEquipment.com and ThunderCreek.com.
Coop’s Truck & Equipment of Bangor, Maine, has added the Thunder Creek lineup of field fueling and service solutions to its new equipment sales roster.
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Father-Daughter Team Behind Conn. Riverfront Project
Realtor Lindsay Marottoli Greenberg nimbly climbed a dark, unfinished stairway on a recent summer day to show her guests the view from a finished unit on the fourth floor of a new luxury apartment complex in Branford, Conn.
Once at the top at Mariners Landing, the visitors were rewarded with sweeping views of the Branford River. Marottoli Greenberg was careful to point out that tenants will not have to make the climb as elevators will be installed before the project’s completion.
The new 147-unit riverfront project at 56 Maple St. is taking shape, with a trio of fourstory gambrel-roofed buildings nearly finished and the groundbreaking for a fourth expected soon. Rents will range from $2,400 to $4,300.
Marottoli Greenberg has been walking building sites throughout the state and in Vermont with her dad, Branford developer Salvatore Marottoli, since she was “like 3 years old.”
The 6-acre parcel was once part of the former Malleable Iron Fittings (MIF) factory, a major employer in Branford for over a century until it closed in the 1970s.
Fast forward some 30 years to when the lot was part of the Anchor Reef Planned Development District, which the town approved in 2000 and was partially built out in 2005-2006.
But the property upon which Mariners Landing is being built had sat dormant for nearly two decades, according to CT Insider.
“There was no building here,” Marottoli Greenberg recalled. “It was just overgrown with weeds and broken-down fences and potholes as big as a Jeep.”
Salvatore Marottoli and his partner, Robert Sachs, later bought the property for $3 million and expects to spend $40 million on the project, he told the Connecticut news service.
Marattolis Bring Different Talents to Project
The way Marottoli Greenberg describes it, Mariners Landing is a father-daughter endeavor, as she runs the real estate end of it while her dad and Sachs work the development end.
Their first major project together was the Marina Village in Branford, approved in 2021, where, she said, “We would both meet prospective buyers and together sold about 10 out of the 15 homes before a shovel even hit the ground.”
“I am lucky to be a dad working with his daughter,” Marottoli interjected.
He told CT Insider that he admires his daughter’s real estate savvy and the fact she “knows everyone and keeps us all on our toes. She has a real concern for people, and that builds friendships and loyalty.”
style living to Branford at Mariners Landing, “where it’s an apartment/resort.”
The 6-acre parcel was once part of the former Malleable Iron Fittings (MIF) factory, a major employer in Branford for over a century until it closed in the 1970s.
The elder Marottoli also would like to get her more involved on the development side, he added.
At the Marina Village site, they demolished three existing homes and constructed 15 three-bedroom houses in a coastal style, calling to mind Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island or Cape May, N.J. The effort was part of the development team’s project to revive the derelict 4.11-acre Goodsell Point Marina as well.
With both Goodsell Point and Mariners Landing, the father-daughter team focused their efforts on “two blighted properties on the river,” according to Marottoli. The marina, he said, has a full waiting list of prospective buyers.
“He brought the Goodsell marina back to life,” Marottoli Greenberg added.
Resort-Style Living Without Extra Fees
Standing on the new concrete river walkway just steps from the Branford River, Marottoli talked about his vision for Mariners Landing and pointed to scattered boat slips that will be replaced with 26 new ones, all served by a new dock.
“We think a lot about these projects before we build them,” he explained. “So, for us, it begins with a love of Branford and a love of the Branford River.
“[It is] one of the few towns that has a river that you can [access from] Long Island Sound and take a large boat past five restaurants all the way down to the brewery at the end of the river. That’s very rare in Connecticut,” Marottoli said.
His plans are to hopefully bring resort-
With the jumble of heavy equipment, work trucks and dumpsters currently at the site, it may be difficult for an observer to picture that dream right now.
But Marottoli envisions Mariners Landing having grilling areas, fire pits, lounge chairs and hammocks surrounding the large pool, now just a freshly dug hole in the ground. There also will be a boat launch for tenants and the public, he told CT Insider.
Despite being on the riverfront, the property is not considered to be in the flood zone, according to Marottoli. He had the site filled in to bring the grade up to a 13-ft. elevation, while the flood zone goes up to 12 ft., he added.
“So here, they’ll live in one of these units, but they’ll have a beautiful pool, they’ll have a fitness center, they’ll have covered parking,” Marottoli explained, while noting that, eventually, the fourth building will complete the project with a marketplace, a restaurant on the first floor and a large deck on the river.
Comparing Mariners Landing to similar developments in Florida, Marottoli said, “[Here], you can live on the water, and you don’t have to buy a $2 million house. And the other thing that was part of the vision was, for a lot of people, they’ve had it with a mortgage. They’ve had it with condominium fees and assessments. They’ve had it with property taxes.”
Rather, folks will be attracted to his waterfront apartment complex because “they want to pay one rent, and live a great life,” he said.
The new 147-unit riverfront project at 56 Maple St. is taking shape, with a trio of four-story gambrel-roofed buildings nearly finished and the groundbreaking for a fourth expected soon.
Mariners’ Landing Branford rendering
Reed & Reed to Replace Bridge in Maine’s Capital City
from page 1
Not only will new greenspace be added in the construction, but a 2.5-megawatt solar farm was added adjacent to the bridge in 2023. The cost of the project will be approximately $30 million.
Workers are building a threelane detour on the north side of the bridge. The left turn from Western Avenue to Whitten Road at the end of the bridge is being removed during construction and a temporary connector roadway to Whitten Road from the I-95 southbound on-ramp will be installed to provide access. Businesses, hotels and the normal path for legislators will be able to continue.
Bridge construction planners in Maine must take into consideration the heavy weather in winter plus salts and mixtures used to de-ice the roads.
“Standard practice on our higher priority roads is to use a corrosive resistant reinforcing in the structure to extend its lifespan,” said Devan Eaton, one of the project managers of MDOT’s bridge program. “We used low carbon chromium in the concrete and metalized [thermal spray coating] the steel beams. We also used additives in the concrete to increase the
resistance of the concrete to the salts and de-icing mixtures.”
The low-carbon chromium conforms to ASTM A1035-CS alloy, he added.
For several reasons, including the tight spaces and speed of construction, the contractor decided to build the bridge in sections off site. These sections called prefabricated bridge units (PBUs), consist of two steel beams with a precast concrete bridge deck. These PBUs are installed one at a time using a Manitowoc crane with a 275-ton lift capacity to put the bridge together one piece at a time.
“We are building the PBUs in our yard in Woolwich,” said Dom Cyr, Reed & Reed’s project manager. “The bridge will be 18 units in all with closure strips in between the precast units to fit everything seamlessly into place.
The old bridge will be demolished once the new precast bridge is ready for the big lift.
The construction of the bridge and roadwork will require considerable quantities of material, including:
• Structural steel: 473,500 lbs.
• Steel reinforcement: 137,000 lbs.
• Asphalt: 5,180 tons
• Concrete: 2,114 cu. yds.
The construction team will use dozers, paving machines and rollers on the project. The team also used excavators to move approximately 14,500 cu. yds. of earth and rock for the bridge replacement work. Reed & Reed is using small cranes in its yard to help assemble the precast bridge units.
Contractors Gendron & Gendron will be performing all the earthwork on the project. Usually in construction, workers drive piles into the ground for support. In this case, bedrock is quite close to the surface, enabling workers to proceed without piles. The concrete abutments will be as tall as 24 ft. in some locations, based on the slope of the road underneath.
The new bridge will be on the route that many state legislators take to get to the capital. The bridge is close to a busy intersection as well.
“This is a high-priority project,” said Eaton. “We want to do a quality job and ease the congestion and improve the intersection while enhancing safety for Maine residents and visitors.” CEG (All photos courtesy of MaineDOT.)
BRIDGE
In March, crews continued structural earth excavation at abutment 1.
Throughout June 2024, crews of MaineDOT worked on excavating to structural rock, cleaning ledge and the installation of footing forms at abutment 1.
Crews excavated to structural rock for the abutment 1 north wingwall, along with working on temporary footings for the temporary bridge. Work in
PORTABLE ROCK CRUSHING
Vt. Keeping Close Eye On Its Dams
FLOODING from page 1
They include:
• Vermont’s secretary of state is directed to issue temporary professional licenses to out-of-state engineers, foresters, surveyors, contractors, security personnel and others. Certain license renewal deadlines for in-state professionals have also been extended.
• As far as construction materials, certain restrictions on gravel and rock extraction as well as asphalt and concrete production — including those related to operating hours, noise, volume of extraction and trucking — have been lifted. Additionally, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) can make use of unpermitted gravel pits and rock quarries, and the Coventry landfill can extend its hours and accept more waste.
• The state’s Agency of Natural Resources may waive notice requirements for infrastructure repair in waterways and changes to dam safety, and the agency may allow certain emergency work in Class I and Class II wetlands.
• Motor vehicles transporting key goods and services related to the flooding emergency are exempt from maximum drive times.
• State agencies are allowed to clear or remove debris and wreckage related to the storm.
Some of Scott’s regulatory changes expire at a specific date, while others are more open-ended as the existing executive order remains in place.
Floods Damaged Many Roads, Bridges, Dams
The National Weather Service (NWS) noted that towns and cities from Addison to Caledonia counties were hit with 3-5 in. of rain late on July 10, with some totals exceeding 6-7 in.
Hinesburg and Starksboro — were “impinged.” He said he believed at least three of those had been destroyed.
VTDigger reported that the state also suffered significant rail damage, including along Amtrak’s Vermonter route, and countless local roads also were damaged and closed.
The state also has been keeping a close eye on its dams in the wake of the flooding.
Jason Batchelder, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, said that officials had been monitoring dams around the state and that the flood control barriers along the Winooski River were “performing phenomenally.” He also noted that one low-hazard dam, located on Harvey’s Lake in Barnet, was breached by the floodwaters but caused no significant damage.
Among Vermont’s hardest-hit municipalities were Moretown, Plainfield, Lyndonville, Barre, Richmond, Bolton and Williamstown, Morrison said. NWS reported that Groton, Barnet and Marshfield also had suffered significant flooding. Unofficial rainfall totals showed Walden collecting more than 7 in. of rain and St. Johnsbury, Hinesburg, Monkton and Moretown taking on more than 6 in.
As many as 7,000 customers lost power as a result of the dying tropical storm in the early hours of July 11, according to VTOutages. By 5 p.m. that day, only about 500 homes and businesses remained without electricity.
Vermont Towns Deluged for Second Straight July 10th
“It’s kind of localized, but we had a wide swath of heavy rain and flood impacts,” reported Jessica Storm, a meteorologist in the Burlington NWS office.
On the same day, Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said at a press conference that swiftwater teams conducted “dozens of rescues” overnight and facilitated numerous evacuations. Mike Cannon, the state’s urban search and rescue coordinator, clarified Morrison’s earlier statement by saying that the swiftwater professionals rescued at least 118 people by boat.
In addition, Vermont National Guard members joined the state search and rescue teams to evacuate people from Barre, Northfield and Moretown, the Guard noted in a press release, and out-of-state teams also were headed to Vermont, according to Cannon.
At least 54 state roads were closed as of mid-morning on July 11, noted Joe Flynn, the state’s transportation secretary, and six bridges — in Barnet, Norton, Charleston, Moretown,
As the rain had mostly dissipated by late in the morning of July 11, state and local officials turned their attention from flash flooding to overfull rivers, including the Winooski, Mad, Missisquoi, Passumpsic, Lamoille and Wells rivers. While many of those waterways had crested by 10 a.m., Morrison said, portions of the Winooski, Passumpsic and Lamoille were still rising.
In Barre, a thin layer of mud covered some streets and sidewalks downtown, while others saw signs of hydraulic damage. Only a handful of people were out and about the morning after the July 10 rains to assess the scene in a city that has now been battered by heavy rains and flooding two years in a row on the very same day.
Officials told VTDigger that Hardwick experienced damage as bad as — or worse than — last summer’s flooding. The town fire station and wastewater plant flooded badly, and the commercial stretch of Vermont Highway 15 west of downtown also was hit hard, affecting many of the same businesses that struggled to recover from the 2023 storm.
Southeast of Burlington, in the community of Huntington, floodwaters entered homes, damaged bridges and rendered some roads impassable, according to Adam Argo, the town administrator. At least three families were staying in the town’s emergency shelter early on July 11.
More flooding inundated parts of the Mad River Valley to the south of Huntington. In Waitsfield, for example, one household was evacuated after the river “went through the first floor,” according to Selectboard member Fred Messer. Nearby, in Fayston, Town Clerk Patti Lewis said a resident there reported silt “up to her windowsill.”
And in the state capital city of Montpelier, which also endured significant flooding last summer, the North Branch and main stem of the Winooski River was running fast and high, but the downtown appeared to have avoided serious flooding.
Vermont’s four southern counties also were largely spared from the floodwaters, with Rutland and Windsor counties receiving no more than 1.5 in. of rain, Bennington and Windham counties recording no more than quarter-inch., and the towns of Bennington and Brattleboro reporting none at all, according NWS.
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Mass. Plans $10M Upgrade to West Hawley Road Bridge
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is planning a $10 million upgrade to the West Hawley Road Bridge over the Deerfield River in Charlemont, a small community in the eastern Berkshire Mountains.
The Greenfield Recorder reported July 16 that transportation officials believe the work, along Mass. Route 8A/West Hawley Road, will improve safety and pedestrian access.
Ahead of construction, which is expected to begin in the fall of 2026, representatives of MassDOT’s Highway Division held a hearing on July 11 to explain the preliminary construction plans and answer questions from Charlemont residents.
Engineers explained that the existing bridge has reached the end of its functional lifespan. In addition, it has numerous potholes, and its current design negatively impacts the flow of the Deerfield River.
“The roadway condition doesn’t meet design standards,” said Christian D’Annunzio, a designer and project manager of C&C Consulting Engineers LLC in Boston. “There is no pedestrian accommodation [and] no bike lanes, but we know from talking with people in town that some people like to walk on this bridge and fish off of [it], so we’d like to improve that for the town.”
The new span is designed to be 10 in. wider, providing a total 34-ft.-wide roadway, including a sidewalk on the eastern side and a two-way, 5-ft.-wide bicycle lane, the Recorder noted. Moreover, 2-ft.-wide safety buffers will be constructed to separate cyclists from passing vehicles on the two 10ft.-wide lanes.
A new and improved Mass. 8A/West Hawley Road bridge is designed to be approximately 500 ft. in length and will be elevated higher than the current span to provide more space for water flow from the Deerfield River, which has been subjected to flooding on multiple occasions. The existing structure often catches debris racing down the river during high water events.
Town Residents Voice Opinions at Meeting
Once construction gets under way at the site, only the southbound lane will be open to traffic, while northbound traffic will be detoured approximately 2 mi. via Tower Road.
Charlemont resident Lora Fulton, who lives on Mass. 8A/West Hawley Road, attended the July 11 meeting, where she expressed concern that driving speeds will increase on Tower Road due to the detoured traffic during the project.
“The last time the bridge was out, there was a lot of speeding on that road,” she told the Greenfield news source.
Sarah Reynolds, Charlemont’s town administrator, noted that she had heard from a number of community residents who had suggestions on ways to reduce speeding on Tower Road, such as installing additional signs.
Kristie Faufaw, who owns Cold River Package & Market on Mass. Route 2, spoke up to say she worries that the bridge construction could decrease the number of customers coming from nearby Berkshire East Mountain Resort. Vacationers at the resort typically bring business to the stores in town, she added.
“[In] the eight weeks that the state did repairs last fall, we noticed a big downtick in bikers and campers coming off of Berkshire East into town,” Faufaw explained.
D’Annunzio responded by saying that plans call for pedestrian access to be provided in order to cross the bridge during the structural upgrades.
Concerns also were raised by Alice Fulton, who lives along West Hawley Road, about the potential impact to properties like hers that border the street, although it is not clear at the moment if any of those properties will be affected.
Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) Director of Planning Jessica Atwood also was on hand. She raised the issue of how construction might affect people who use the Deerfield River recreationally.
“The [river] is very popular for whitewater rafting and tubing, particularly from May to October when the dam releases water for those recreational purposes,” she commented, before asking: “Are there any impacts to those tubers and kayakers going down the river at those times during construction?”
The MassDOT Highway Division intends to take the ideas and concerns expressed at the meeting and incorporate them into future planning and design work, the Recorder noted.
The Mass. Route 8A/West Hawley Road Bridge construction is expected to last about 5 years, with a targeted completion set for 2031.
“This is very preliminary right now,” MassDOT District 1 Bridge Engineer Mark Devylder said in regard to the project’s timeline. “I think we’re probably [more] in the range of four years. We will look at accelerated construction techniques.”
The Greenfield newspaper learned that another design meeting will be held next spring to hear more from the public and get the project approved by the MassDOT Project Review Committee.
