MassDOT: Bridge Project On Time, On Budget

As of rush hour on Monday, August 15, the final of fourteen bridges that carry Route 93 over Medford’s roads will be replaced. According to MassDOT spokesman and Medford resident Adam Hurtubise, the $98.1 million project is on time and on budget.

Since bridge replacement began in June, Route 93 has re-opened ahead of schedule every weekend of the project, said Hurtubise.

All of the fourteen bridges will have been replaced after next weekend but some additional work will remain.

“There will still be quite a bit of work remaining on the contract, however, but MassDOT will have met this very important milestone of replacing the 14 decks over the course of a single summer,” said Hurtubise in an email.

Additional work will include paving, striping, noose barriers, and restoration of local roadway pavement. Drivers should be prepared for periodic lane closures to complete the remaining work.

According to Christine Mizioch of the MassDOT Design Build Program team, the fourteen bridges that were targeted for replacement are around the same age and have similar problems, prompting the state to replace them all at once. The bridges were over fifty years old and a repaving project that had been going on since 2008 revealed “advanced deterioration,” according to the MassDOT. In a dramatic example of this, last August two major potholes opened up on Route 93 over Valley Street in Medford, causing major traffic delays while crews scrambled to repair the road. One pothole was fourteen feet by five feet and the road below Route 93 was visible.

According to the project website, replacing the fourteen bridges would have taken four years to complete using “conventional” construction methods. The state used modular materials, which dramatically sped up the process, with bridge demolition on Friday night, a bridge made of prefabricated units being erected on Saturday afternoon, concrete in place and curing on Sunday, and a new bridge open on Monday.

According to information released by the Governor’s office, The “Fast14″ project is funded by the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Accelerated Bridge Program, an historic 8-year, $3 billion investment to repair the Commonwealth’s structurally deficient bridges. To date, the ABP has reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges from 543 to 458, a decrease of almost 16 percent. Since its inception in 2008, the ABP has created over 2,713 construction contractor jobs and sustained an additional 4,179 jobs, according to a statement from the Governor.

Construction crews take down the old Route 93 South overpass over Riverside Avenue on August 5. Photo by Allison Goldsberry.

The scene from above of the demolition of Route 93 South over Riverside Avenue. Photo courtesy MassDOT.

Some of the new bridges still need permanent guardrails, such as this bridge over Salem Street. Photo by Allison Goldsberry.

A street sweeper cleans up the approaches to the new Route 93 South bridge over Webster Street. Photo courtesy MassDOT.

– Information and photos compiled by Allison Goldsberry