Two Major Public Works Projects Expected To Wrap By Winter

By John Voket

Newtown’s latest bridge replacement project and a set of road improvements funded mostly through President Obama’s federal economic stimulus initiative are expected to be completed before the snow flies, if all goes as expected.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley was on hand August 16 to see the Board of Selectmen authorize First Selectman Pat Llodra to sign off on road improvement work ready to begin on Castle Hill and Castle Meadow Roads. That signature was the final administrative step before A&J Paving, the town’s contractor for the job, can begin work.

“With as much certainty as we can have with this kind of work, we expect both of those roads to be done by October,” Mr Hurley told The Bee following the selectmen’s meeting. Mr Hurley said all of the town’s prep work on Castle Hill and Castle Meadow in the areas slated for improvement is complete.

“The Castle Meadow bridge is done and open, so that’s one more unknown removed in the larger scope of things,” Mr Hurley said. “It can further expedite completion of the rest of the job.”

The net total of funding awarded for these two projects from the economic stimulus program was reported to be $585,991.

Mr Hurley said another major project, the town’s latest bridge replacement project on Old Mill Road, is also on track for completion by the fall. The official awarding of the project is due to go out to Nagy Brothers of Monroe this week, which will green light the start of construction on what Mr Hurley described as “a spillway that was found to have seepage through the structure.”

“This is absolutely our highest priority based on inspections,” he said. “Besides the seepage, we’ve got beaver issues and flooding up there.”

The public works chief said there is no “imminent danger of collapse, but we didn’t want it to get to that point.”

The Old Mill dam renovation will be performed under the supervision or processes outlined by both the local wetlands agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection. Mr Hurley said this project can be expedited too, because the winning bidder already had some specialized construction materials on their lot.

Having the steel sheeting on hand to complete the cofferdam required so Nagy Brothers’ workers can complete the permanent renovation also contributed to the winning bid coming in about $40,000 under budget, Mr Hurley said.

According to the public works director, cofferdam is a type of watertight construction designed to facilitate construction projects in areas which are normally submerged. A cofferdam is installed in the work area and water is pumped out to expose the bed of the body of water so that workers can construct structural supports in a dry environment.

Mr Hurley said once a “dewatering plan” is complete, he will have a good idea the extent of closures that might need to be affected in the area.

“It might be as little as a few hours, or up to a day,” he said. “We can’t be sure until we see the dewatering plan.”

Mr Hurley added that Nagy Brothers has already completed about a half-dozen other Newtown bridges as part of a long-term town wide bridge replacement schedule.

In other news, Mr Hurley said a recent routine solicitation for costs to outsource some springtime street sweeping to remove winter sand brought some interesting news. He said one vendor’s unit cost for the work, which was more recently performed exclusively by town workers, has come down to the point where it could be “revenue neutral to reengage a contractor.”

And by bringing on a contractor to supplement town crews, Mr Hurley said taxpayers would receive “improved service at no increased cost.”

At the same time, any additional environmental harm that might be caused by winter sand runoff could be further mitigated by completing the state and federally mandated street sweeping earlier in the season.

“It means we could be finished with winter sand sweeping by the time school gets out, instead of by the end of July,” he told The Bee. Mr Hurley said an analysis of the cost of mandated environmental maintenance was promised to both the board of selectmen and the legislative council last budget season.

And, he said, the decision about how to move forward regarding any outsourcing will ultimately rest with those elected officials. Winter sand removal and storm drain cleaning are both mandated by relatively recent state and federal stormwater discharge initiatives.

Mr Hurley said the town currently contracts for the storm basin cleaning, and that in recent years, that cost has come down from about $21 per unit to a “little over $15 per drain.” The public works chief said he is expecting to review the sand removal information at an upcoming selectmen’s meeting.