| Moses Wheeler Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Moses Wheeler Bridge |
| Carries | 6 lanes of I-95 (Connecticut Turnpike) |
| Crosses | Housatonic River |
| Locale | Stratford, Connecticut/Milford, Connecticut |
| Maintained by | Connecticut Department of Transportation[1] |
| Design | steel plate girder and floorbeam, with ship-lap assemblies |
| Total length | 967 meters (3,196 feet) |
| Number of spans | 34 |
| Opened | 1958 |
Moses Wheeler Bridge carries Interstate 95 over the Housatonic River between Stratford and the Devon section of Milford. The bridge is a 34-span plate girder structure with a concrete deck with three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction. The central span over the river's navigation channel includes a ship-lap assembly, which are no longer used in bridge construction. Construction on the Moses Wheeler Bridge began in 1955 and opened on January 2, 1958.
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Heavy traffic and harsh New England weather have taken their toll on the Moses Wheeler Bridge. It has been rated as 'structurally deficient' during recent inspections, with accelerating deterioration of the structural steel being of particular concern. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CONNDOT) began drawing up plans to replace the bridge in 1996. Originally CONNDOT planned to construct the new bridge to the south of the existing one, away from 115 kilovolt high tension wires that run atop the nearby Metro-North Railroad Drawridge. Stratford residents and officials demanded the new bridge be built to the north of the existing span, closer to the Metro-North bridge and the power lines. A compromise was reached where the new bridge will roughly use the same footprint as the existing span. To make this possible, the project will be completed in three stages: the first two stages will consist of constructing the outer parts of the new bridge that will eventually carry two outer lanes and the outer shoulder, while three lanes of traffic are maintained on the existing bridge. During the final stage of construction, three lanes of traffic will be shifted to the new outer spans, at which point crews will demolish the existing span and complete the center portion of the new bridge.
The new bridge is planned to be a 14-span segmented concrete box girder structure, carrying three (expandable to four) lanes in each direction with full left and right shoulders. The bridge is designed for seismic loading to withstand a major earthquake. Additionally, it will include a fender system to protect the bridge piers from ship collisions. Aesthetic features are also included, among which is encasing the bridge piers with decorative granite and aesthetic lighting. The STV Group designed the replacement bridge.[2] The existing bridge has no shoulders.
Environmental studies for the new bridge were completed in 2005, and CONNDOT awarded a $60 million contract to Torrington, Connecticut-based O&G Industries for the initial phase of work in July 2009. Construction on the first phase of replacing the bridge, including the foundations for the new bridge piers and temporary work trusses in the Housatonic River began in September 2009. The $250 million contract that will build the remainder of the new bridge and demolish the existing span is scheduled to be let in June 2010.
During the summer of 2007, CONNDOT performed a $6.9 million emergency repair project to the Moses Wheeler Bridge after several large holes opened up in the bridge deck,[3] and advanced deterioration of the structural steel was discovered during a routine inspection. The project involved a full-depth patch and repair of the bridge deck, roadway resurfacing, and reinforcement of key superstructure components to ensure the bridge could remain in service until the new bridge can be built.[4]
List of crossings of the Housatonic River
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