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Bridge Project Is Cause For Concern PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 16 November 2007 11:16
Disruptions Of Rail, River Traffic In May Are Discussed At Hearing
By Katie Warchut, Published on 11/16/2007

New London — Amtrak rail service between New Haven and Boston will come to a halt for four days next spring, and marine traffic on the Thames River may now be blocked for the better part of 20 days.

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On Thursday the Coast Guard began to hear from the river's military and commercial users, who are concerned about Amtrak's plan.

Amtrak is replacing the moveable span of its aging bridge between New London and Groton. Last month it asked for a change from the original plan, which included a 10-day channel closure in April. Now it wants 20 days in May.

The channel closure requires approval from the Coast Guard.

Amtrak had originally considered shuttling passengers by bus between stations during an estimated four-day outage in train traffic during that time. On Thursday, however, Amtrak officials said that was not feasible because the number of passengers was too great. More than 30 trains carrying 300 passengers each go over the bridge every day, officials said.

Among those most affected by the lengthened closure are the Thames Shipyard & Repair Co. and Cross Sound Ferry.

“May is the worst possible time for us,” said Christopher J. Anglin, facilities operations manager for the ferry company.

Cross Sound and the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson ferry use Thames Shipyard's dry docks, where their vessels are painted at the beginning of the season. Because the ferry companies cannot plan ahead for service, a vessel could be out of service for 20 days rather than just one, Anglin said.

The Washington Group International, contract managers for the project, reported that in May this year, 14 private sailboats or motor vessels and 11 commercial vessels needed the bridge opened for passage.

Another 61 openings were reportedly done as a “convenience,” as the vessels could have passed underneath the bridge's vertical clearance, the group reported.

The 20-day closure is due to end May 23, right before the Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff of boating season. That means there will be little room for error on the part of the construction manager and Cianbro Corp., the contractors for the project.

Grant W. Westerson, executive director of the Connecticut Marine Trades Association, asked that construction “stay away” from Memorial Day weekend. He was surprised at the low number of openings last May, and asked for the number of openings in previous years.

There was one bright spot for ferries, commercial shipping and recreational boaters at Thursday's meeting at Fort Trumbull: Amtrak is saying there will be a 36-hour window during those 20 days when all boats can use the channel.

That should allow companies like Dow Chemical Co. in Gales Ferry to schedule a barge delivery of raw materials, or the Navy to send out a Virginia-class submarine.

Rather than use the current drawbridge-style opening, the new bridge span will move vertically between two towers, like an elevator, to allow marine traffic to pass underneath.

Bridge piers have shifted during the project, causing extra expense and delay. The possibility of them shifting again prompted the request for a longer closing of the channel. Construction officials scrapped plans to drive piles into the riverbed to build a temporary platform to hold the bridge's 4-million-pound counterweight. Instead, they will cut the weight into pieces while it is in place, which will take longer, and put the pieces directly onto a barge for removal.

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