Lamont Applauds Stamford Bridge Replacement Work

STAMFORD, CT — Governor Ned Lamont is applauding the work done on the bridge replacement project near Exit 9 on Interstate 95 in Stamford as an example of "efficiency and innovation." He also praised construction crews, Connecticut Department of Transportation staff and both state and local law enforcement for their "efficient and exhaustive" work.

The project resulted in traffic needing to be detoured off the highway over the past two weekends, causing police and government officials to strongly advise travelers to avoid the area if possible due to expected heavy delays and traffic caused by the project.

In a press release, Lamont said the "flawless efforts" of those involved in the project resulted in no significant traffic delays in what is normally one of the heaviest congested areas of the state.

"We really must give applause to the DOT staff, construction crews and state and local law enforcement who were involved in this complex and innovative project," Lamont said in a release. "Over the last two weekends, we saw the complete demolition of two bridge spans and the sliding in of new ones in what felt like the blink of an eye – and this all happened on the heaviest traveled section highway in our state, on a weekend in the summer. A project of this magnitude could have resulted in a nightmare on the highway, but everyone involved did an excellent job of communicating to drivers that they should avoid the area, and they were able to complete their work expeditiously. For that, I want to thank them."

The project involved demolishing the two bridge spans that carry Route 1 (East Main Street) over I-95 and sliding in new replacement spans using a construction method known as accelerated bridge construction (ABC). The spans were replaced because they had outlasted their lifecycles.

All traffic was scheduled to be detoured off the highway both weekends between 11 p.m. on Friday and 5 a.m. on Monday, however the highway was able to re-open hours ahead of schedule both Sundays due to the crews' rapid work. There were also minimal traffic backups due to drivers adhering to warnings to avoid the area.

Lamont also noted a project of this magnitude would have taken two years to complete under conventional construction methods, causing daily traffic delays in the process. Though the highway was shut down and detoured for two weekends, using the ABC method "significantly expedited and compressed the replacement process" and helped reduce costs.

"I must thank the men and women of the Connecticut DOT who worked so hard behind the scenes to put all the pieces in place for this major bridge replacement project to come together in such a precision fashion, and ahead of schedule," DOT Commissioner Joe Giulietti said in a release. "The construction crews and our law enforcement partners deserve equal recognition and high praise for being an integral part of the team that made this project such a success for everyone, but also most notably we must thank our customers – the traveling public."

The project was led by Torrington-based business O&G Industries.