Sally E. Bahner File Photo
Residents living within earshot of the Amtrak bridge project in progress along West Main Street in Branford were subjected to the sound of heavy metal-on-metal pounding — at 3:15 Tuesday morning.
Construction workers were driving sheet pile along the railroad tracks. That means they were pounding hunks of steel into the ground to hold dirt back. It sounds like a “very sharp rapid hammer blow,” according to Branford First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos.
The noise lasted for about a half hour on Tuesday morning. Early morning intermittent noise continued again Wednesday, lasting a little over two hours, from 11:45 p.m. to 2 a.m.
According to Jan Pacanski, project consulting engineer, that portion of the project will continue through this week and into next week, perhaps to Monday or Tuesday. Like much of the track-related portion of project, timing depends on Amtrak. Fewer trains run during the night, allowing workers more continuous access to the track area. Pacanski believes the noise was below the 100dB threshold, which is equivalent to the noise from a motorcycle.
Ongoing lower level nighttime noise can be heard regularly from as far away as the Greens condominiums, off Jefferson Road, a little more than a mile away.
Concern has also been expressed about the duration of the train whistles. In August, concerns regarding nighttime noise turned out to be minimal after Amtrak reduced prolonged train whistles as trains approached and left the work zone. However, more prolonged blasts seem to be creeping back.
“It depends on the engineer,” says Pecanski. He said he would check with Amtrak on that matter. When the five-year construction project began the problem of serious noise in what is a night-time project was still not fully resolved.
Residents can obtain regular updates by calling the Department of Transportation’s 24-hour information line at 203 – 315-0966. The project is a J.F. White/Empire Paving joint venture. Completion is planned for March 2014.
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is this the same project that happened in new haven over the summer ? i live on william right behind the tracks and all i heard for 6 weeks was horns. i was a walking zombie for 6 weeks. i think it would have been easier to sleep at a slayer concert. i feel for the branfordites.