Dingletown Road Bridge Project In Greenwich Delayed: Public Works

GREENWICH, CT — The planned $200,000 reconstruction of the Dingletown Road bridge in backcountry Greenwich has been delayed "due to an unforeseen field condition," Frank Petise, P.E., Greenwich's senior civil engineer overseeing the project, tells Patch.

The road has been closed for nearly two months, a major inconvenience for area residents, but excavation work was halted when crews unexpectedly uncovered a gas main that had not been documented Connecticut Natural Gas, explains Petise.

"As part of the design process we contact all the utility companies, hold a meeting to discuss the location of their facilities and request information to avoid any major conflicts during construction," wrote Petise in an email to Patch. "Many times the utilities that are present are extremely old, there are very few records and were installed in areas different than what may have been shown on their original plans and when we start the excavation process we uncover things we are not expecting. This is what has occurred on this bridge."

The large gas main uncovered by Stamford-based A. Vitti Excavators, LLC is encased in concrete in the bridge structure "that conflicts with our proposed maintenance," said Petise.

"The roadway was left closed due to the excavation that had already taken place. We coordinated with the Town’s consultant engineer, and [Connecticut Natural Gas] to modify our design to avoid impacts to this line. In order to do the modifications we also needed an additional field survey which added to the delay."

Revised construction plans have been completed, Petise said, and work is expected to resume next week, weather permitting, and the road could be reopened by early fall.

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