Award of Merit-Transportation
This $136-million project is part of an ongoing $2-billion project to build an extradosed cable-stay bridge across New Haven Harbor to replace the aging "Q Bridge" there today. The scope of this part of the bigger job included reconstructing 7.2 miles of Interstate 95 from New Haven to Branford and constructing trestles from both shorelines, marine enclosures and main span in-water foundations for the new bridge.
There was a series of challenges, and from the outset construction had already been delayed by nearly two years due to no bidders responding to the first bid solicitation, says ConnDOT. That meant that contracts had to be re-scoped and repackaged, which took about 18 months.
Another major hurdle was heat, particularly during a two-week period in the summer of 2011 with 90-degree-plus days. To achieve the constant, cool temperature that was needed for the concrete to cure, the team shrink-wrapped and then chilled the concrete with six industrial-size air conditioners.
Another challenge occurred when a tremie pipe broke while being used to place concrete underwater. Workers were left to improvise, increasing the capacity of shafts to make the whole section stronger.
That type of "on-the-fly adaptation" helped carry this project to the finish, as one ENR New York judge notes.
Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge Foundations and Approach Structures, New Haven, Conn.
Key Players
Owner/Developer: Conn. Dept. of Transportation
Oversight: Federal Highway Administration
General Contractor/Construction Manager: Cianbro/Middlesex III
Lead Designer: URS Corp.
Submitted by: Conn. Dept. of Transportation
