Grand Bridge Fix To Start In Spring

The city plans to begin the estimated 18-month shutdown and rehab of the Grand Avenue Bridge in late March or early April, according to the city engineer and a newly inked form filed with the state.

According to the city land records database, on Jan. 9, city Chief Structural Engineer Zack Shapiro signed a ​“Work Commencement Form” related to the Grand Avenue Bridge project as issued by the state Department of Energy & Environmental Proection’s (DEEP) Bureau of Water Protection & Land Reuse, Land & Water Resources Division.

That form indicates that the city has hired the Plantsville-based contractor Mohawk Northeast Inc. to do the structural repair work for the 121-year-old, Quinnipiac River-spanning, rotating bridge.

It also indicated that the contractor received a copy of the license and approved plans for the work on Jan. 6, that the expected date of commencement of work is March 1, and that the expected date of completion of work is Jan. 30, 2022.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said that those latter two dates referred to the contractual start and completion dates for the project.

“We’re not going to close the bridge on March 1,” he said. First the city and its contractors have to drive piles and do other work to jack the bridge up.

The bridge itself should be shut down sometime in late March or early April, he said.

‘“Stay tuned as we get closer to that date.” The actual rehab work should be completed closer to the end of 2021 than the beginning of 2022, he added.

Zinn said the city will announce the exact shut down and construction start dates in the next few weeks. It also plans on throwing a small party or festival in the neighborhood to celebrate the beginning of the bridge repair work.

Plus, he said, the city will likely be hosting a ranked choice vote election as to which color the repaired bridge should be painted.

While the second page of the recent land record filing details the work commencement form, the first includes a notice from DEEP, dated June 18, that gives notice of the state’s granting of a license to the city to do the Grand Avenue Bridge repair work.

The substance of the repair work permitted by the state includes:

1. In substructure, replace cracked stones, reset loose stone, remove selected granite blocks no longer necessary, and repoint joints.

2. Demolish existing abutment backwalls and seats as necessary to accommodate new approach spans.

3. Construction of new abutments on micropiles behind the existing.

4. Replace existing bridge decks and parapets with an exodermic bridge deck, a steel bridge railing, and incorporate new preformed joint seals and asphalt plugs.

5. Repair truss members, gusset plates, floor systems, portals and struts.

6. Replace deteriorated fasteners.

7. Clean and paint swing span structured steel.

8. Reset catch basins.