AASHTO Journal, 29 June 2012
Northbound lanes of a busy bridge in New Haven, Conn., opened up to drivers last weekend, a full three months ahead of schedule.
Construction began on the northbound lanes of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge (also known as the Q Bridge) in November 2009 after ConnDOT discovered structural problems. The bridge carries I-95 over the Quinnipiac River and serves up to 140,000 vehicles per day, which is almost four times the number of vehicles the bridge was originally designed to handle in the late 1950s. The bridge is part of a larger project, called the I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program, which aims to make operational, safety, and capacity improvements to 7.2 miles of I-95 between Sargent Drive and Cedar Street and is ConnDOT’s largest highway project ever.
In order to tackle the Q Bridge, ConnDOT split the project into separate contracts. The first contract tackled the piers supporting the new bridge and the northbound I-95 approach structures to the bridge. The second was the construction of the actual bridge, which was split into creating the northbound lanes first, to be completed in September 2012 at a cost of $417 million.
ConnDOT contracted two companies to work on the project together as a joint venture, which Commissioner James Redeker credited as part of the reason ConnDOT was able to complete the bridge and open it to traffic last weekend, as well as other construction elements.
“Without the interchange connections having been made to the new Q Bridge, we would not be celebrating the opening of the new bridge three months ahead of schedule,” Redeker said in a statement.
ConnDOT representatives and elected officials were on hand on Friday for the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Q Bridge northbound lanes, noting all the benefits the new bridge will offer users.
“This is a smart, strategic transportation investment that will bring relief to the thousands of people traveling through the I-95 corridor every day by providing a safer and more efficient interstate system,” said Gov. Dannel Malloy in a statement. “It also gives a major boost to our economy by creating or sustaining thousands of jobs, reducing congestion and auto emissions, and improving the flow of commerce. And besides all that, it’s a beautiful new bridge.”
The southbound lanes of the bridge are scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in 2015, while the third portion of the contract, to reconstruct the I-95/I-91/Route 34 interchange and the southbound approaches to the bridge, should be completed in November 2016. More information on the Q Bridge project is available at bit.ly/I95newhaven.