Rusty cables, cut-up steel and column remnants lie in heaps along Interstate 95 as crews prepare for construction of the southbound half of the new Whittier Bridge. The 1,300-ft-long historic crossing is the largest of five megaprojects in the Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation’s accelerated bridge program. Crews finished construction of the six-lane northbound side last November—“the greatest milestone” for the $292-million design-build project, says Chris Daigle, assistant project manager with the design-build joint-venture team of Walsh Construction and McCourt Construction.
The joint venture began work in January 2014, and completion originally was slated for this fall. Due to record snowfalls that idled workers for six weeks last winter, highly variable terrain, and greater-than-expected deterioration that required design changes and expanded reconstruction, the project was delayed 11 months, Daigle says.