Hanover-Hanson Bridge Opens 20 Months Early

The Patrick-Murray Administration announced that the Broadway Street Bridge over the Indian Head River connecting Hanover and Hanson opened today 20 months ahead of schedule. The project is part of Governor Deval Patrick's historic Accelerated Bridge Program to reverse years of neglect and significantly reduce the state's backlog of structurally deficient bridges.

The project replaced the existing deteriorated bridge built in 1907 and rebuilt in 1930.  The original completion date for the $1.4 million project was May 2012. Last fall, MassDOT offered local officials and legislators a proposal to shorten the construction schedule and save $200,000 by changing to a precast bridge structure that eliminated construction in phases in favor of closing the bridge with detour.  The work began in April and was completed in seven months, 20 months ahead of the original schedule.

Since the Patrick-Murray Administration filed legislation approved by the Legislature creating the $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program (ABP) in 2008, the number of structurally deficient bridges has dropped from 543 to 482, a decline of more than 10 percent. As a result of ABP alone, 24 bridge projects are already complete, with a total of 62 bridge projects scheduled for construction this season. Over the course of the program, at least 200 bridges will see active construction.

Together, the Patrick-Murray Administration's investment in roads and bridges has grown to $1.085 billion in fiscal year 2010 and will support more than 10,000 jobs on 385 separate projects across the state. At the same time, MassDOT reduced the time from construction contract advertisement to construction start by more than 43 percent - a drop from 218 days in 2008 to 124 days in 2009. For federal stimulus-funded projects, the timeline from construction contract advertisement to notice to proceed was reduced to 48 days, allowing MassDOT to put people to work on construction projects faster than ever before.

Comments

[Matthew]

This is a great example of how MassDOT engineers, Contractors and town officials can accelerate construction on projects.