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    1. Industry News

    Connecticut Bridge Project Faces Delays and Height Discrepancy Issues

    Nov. 11, 2024
    The completion of the Cedar Heights Road bridge is impacting traffic and potentially delaying another bridge project.
    ID 95481028 © Bluiz60 | Dreamstime.com
    bridge construction delayed in stamford Connecticut

    By: Tyler Fedor
    Source: The Stamford Advocate, Conn. (TNS)

    The completion date of a project to rebuild a bridge on Cedar Heights Road has been pushed back, again.

    The goal was to get the bridge, rated in “Serious” condition by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, rebuilt by the end of November after a string of delays. However, City Engineer Lou Casolo said the hope now is to open the bridge to traffic by April 2025 after it was discovered the new bridge was built too low.

    Tony Vitti, president of A. Vitti Excavators, which is building the bridge, said his company will pay to fix the height discrepancy.

    Completing the project any later could delay replacement of a bridge on Wire Mill Road, which is completely supported by federal funds. Tthe Wire Mill Road project must be completed by the end of 2025 or those federal funds could be reduced or revoked, Casolo said.

    “There can’t be any hiccups,” Casolo said.

    Cedar Heights Road, which is just south of the Merritt Parkway, has been closed to traffic during the project. A detour takes cars along High Ridge Road and Wire Mill Road.

    Bids were put out for contractors to take on the Wire Mill Road project with a commitment from the city to get work started on it April 1.

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    Casolo said both bridges cannot be closed at the same time.

    “It would be a real impact to the city,” Casolo said. “That would be a problem.”

    Casolo previously told The Stamford Advocate that about 3,800 vehicles passed over the Cedar Heights bridge on a daily basis before it closed.

    Casolo said A. Vitti Excavators will work through the winter to make sure the replacement for the more-than-90-year-old bridge on Cedar Heights Road can be completed.

    He described the time the contractor for the Wire Mill Road project will have to complete the project, including filing paperwork, getting materials and building, as “razor thin,” even if the the bridge on Cedar Heights Road is completed by April.

    Board of Representatives member Don Mays, D-19, called the most recent delay “an embarrassment for the city” in an Operations Committee meeting. He also critiqued the contractor for having to go through multiple rounds of review for permits and approvals.

    “It tells me that the contractor may be unfamiliar with the requirements of the job or is perhaps a bit over his head,” Mays said.

    Vitti said the delays were the fault of third-party contractors that took too long to sign off on designs and permits.

    “I’m getting punished and they’re dragging their feet on submittals,” Vitti said.

    The original goal was to complete the project by Nov. 30, 2023. A. Vitti Excavators then committed to working during the 2023 winter to get the job done by May 31. That was also pushed back to June 30.

    The completion date was then pushed back to the end of November after A. Vitti Excavators submitted documents on how it would handle the flow of the Rippowam River, demolition of the bridge and supporting utility lines to an inspection firm before moving from one stage of construction to the next.

    The documents went through multiple rounds of reviews that resulted in more delays.

    Includes prior reporting by staff writer Brianna Gurciullo. 

    (c)2024 The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.)
    Visit The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) at www.stamfordadvocate.com.
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