The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and union workers in Massachusetts have basically reinvented how bridge construction should be done with their “Fast 14” accelerated bridge project. According to The Boston Herald, MassDOT pulled off the project in record time by using prefabricated superstructures — 40-ton panels each made of two steel I-beams and a concrete deck lowered by cranes onto the bridges’ original abutments. This is the first time this method has been used.
Drivers originally annoyed by the inconvenience the multiple lane closures and miles of traffic are now elated that it was all over so quickly.
In a Daily Kos post titled “Boston's "Fast 14" slowed my vacation, but it's too cool to gripe about,” a woman named Gloria who had to travel along I-95 sings the projects' praises:
“Rather than building and pouring concrete for the bridge supports and decks on site, MassDOT is having everything pre-fabricated and then assembling the bridges like giant Lego projects. Once the infrastructure is in place, they surface the decks with a quick-drying substance, paint the lane stripes, and voila. [Right. It’s undoubtedly not that simple.]
All of the demolition work and necessary lane closings take place on weekends, using a precisely choreographed procedure that creates the work space between 10 pm on Fridays and 5 am on Mondays. The work focuses on a different bridge each weekend."
State Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan offered his gratitude to the people affected.
“I want to thank the motorists of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who patiently bared with us as we executed this project. I want to assure them that while they had 10 weekends of difficult traffic, they avoided . . . three or four years of disruption on Interstate 93 North,” Mullan said, referring to the $98 million “Fast 14” accelerated bridge project.
Trying to find the fastest way to repair a giant sinkhole that had opened on an I-95 bridge last August, state officials decided to get creative in the rebuilding process. MassDOT tried several new techniques in the “Fast 14” project. Besides the two aforementioned 40-ton panels, the state also deployed “zipper lanes” — the moveable, interlocking concrete barriers used for the HOV lanes along the Southeast Expressway — to move two-way traffic throughout the I-93 construction zone.
DePaola said after last summer’s crater fiasco, state engineers examined 13 other similar bridges along I-93 in Medford and found that they all showed signs of serious deterioration.
“The typical design life back in the 1950s and ’60s was about 50 years,” he said of the original bridge decks. The new ones, he added, “are designed for a 75-year life. But we truly think they will last longer than that.”
While work on the southbound I-93 bridge over Route 16 will end by tomorrow at 5 a.m. — wrapping up major construction on all 14 bridges — state transportation officials warned that there will still be periodic lane closures for several more weekends as crews finish paving, painting lines and installing noise barriers.
It is likely that other states will follow in the bay state's footsteps by creating projects like “Fast 14” that speed up lengthy construction processes and save money. Massachusetts Building and Construction Trades Council President, Frank Callahan, speaking proudly of his affiliated unions' contribution to FAST 14's success, provided some detail on the cost savings:
Final project cost is $98.1 million. This is bid plus contingencies such as police details. Under normal construction methods this project would have taken approximately 4 years, with the related traffic delays and substantially higher cost. We have heard estimates as high as $300 Million but Partington was not aware of any estimates.
The original estimate for bidding was $75 million (without contingencies) and the union bid JF White/Kiewit Eastern came in at about $73 million.
The non-union bid from the joint venture of Middlesex Construction/Cianbro came in more than $30 million higher.
This project has beaten every benchmark set. It is a real testament to the training, skills and hard work of our members. The contractor has been raving about the high level of cooperation, coordination and teamwork on the project.