Rell: I-84 Highway Project Repairs Could Start Within Weeks

HARTFORD (AP) — Construction could start later this summer to repair a botched $71 million highway widening project on Interstate 84 in greater Waterbury, state officials said.

Empire Paving of North Haven submitted a low bid of $19.3 million on Friday to make the repairs, which include replacing defective drainage catch basins, repaving, and other work.

The contract is expected to be awarded within the next few weeks, and construction on the 3.5-mile stretch could start as early as next month, Governor M. Jodi Rell said.

“This bid will be very carefully scrutinized to ensure that it is not only the best price, but the most responsible bid,” she said. “We have worked too hard to correct this project.”

An independent audit released by Rell’s office in May determined that the $56 million project’s price tag had escalated to more than $71 million, and that it had major flaws that went undocumented by inspectors.

The 60-page report found problems with faulty drains, defective light poles, an improperly installed bridge and other construction errors along the stretch between Waterbury and Cheshire.

The auditors determined most of the drainage pipe and catch basins were improperly installed. Many were not inspected, and those that were inspected were not identified as problematic, the report stated.

Many lead nowhere, some are clogged with debris and others were apparently connected with substandard, cracked and leaking pipes.

Federal and state investigators are reviewing the project, which started in 2002. The state is also suing now-defunct L.G. DeFelice Inc, the New Haven construction contractor; and Maguire Group of New Britain, which had been hired to oversee the project.

The state has collected $17.5 million from the insurance company that guaranteed DeFelice’s work, along with at least $1.5 million obtained directly from DeFelice. That money will be used to cover costs of the repairs.

Rell said the Federal Highway Administration also is expected to release $5 million, which it has been withholding from its $60 million contribution to the project until state officials concluded more inspections.

Meanwhile, state officials said Friday they are also reviewing potential deficiencies discovered this spring when investigators checked several questionable guardrail poles.

“They were pulled up and found not to have been installed as deeply as required because of rock underneath,” state Department of Transportation spokesman Judd Everhart said in a written statement. “It was then determined that more posts had not been installed as deeply as required, and all of them have been replaced at the correct depth.”

The subcontractor replaced them at no additional charge, Everhart said.