If you happen to be one of the dozen or so people on Earth who has not yet parked at the Monitor to gawk at the Sewalls Falls Bridge project, you’re in luck, because we checked in on everything for you. We figured it’d be easier for us to write about it than it would be for you to come down here and see for yourselves. Plus, we’re running out of parking spaces.
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, we feel sorry for you – what an uncomfortable way to live. But if that’s the case, you probably haven’t heard that the bridge in East Concord spanning the Merrimack River has been out of commission for quite some time. The old (and we mean old) structure was rusted and rickety, and it needed to be replaced.
Well, crews have been working hard on the project since the winter, and their efforts are paying off.
We got in touch with City Engineer Ed Roberge, who knows everything there is to know about bridge projects in Concord, and he filled us in on what’s been going on recently and what’s up next.
Below is a little summary of what’s been going on in our neck of the woods lately, in Roberge’s words.
“The steel structure is complete from side to side,” Roberge said. That’s nice, because who wants a bridge that doesn’t go from one side to the other?
“Water, sewer and gas utilities are being hung at this time in advance of placement of the pre-cast concrete deck. Once the utilities are complete on the bridge, extension from the bridge to existing structure connections will be completed over the following weeks. We expect completion around mid-next week followed by the start of concrete decking.”
“We expect pre-cast deck slabs to begin arriving (Friday) and installation to begin late next week.”
“Related roadway, utility, and bridge decking work will continue through August. By the end of August, the bridge will look strikingly like a bridge!”
“The project is on schedule for substantial completion by Nov. 1 (meaning we are opening the blessed thing)! Final landscaping, paving, and the rail crossing nearest Monitor Drive will be completed in early 2017 per plan. The bridge deck paving itself will be completed 100 percent this fall. Final paving on the rest of the Sewalls Falls roadway will wait until early 2017 – it’s a settlement thing that we like to do on major projects.”
Now the best – the project is actually under budget! On time and under budget – love to say that!
