UPDATE June 2, 2014: Walnut Hill Road / Limekiln Brook Bridge Not Completed Yet

Report and Photography by Paula Antolini

See VIDEO of Walnut Hill Road / Limekiln Brook Bridge, June 2, 2014 here.

See more photos here under "NEWS" photo gallery:  picturesbypaula.com

There was a flurry of activity at 4:45 p.m. yesterday, June 2, 2014, at the Walnut Hill Road / Limekiln Brook Bridge, more than we've usually seen in the past year, but the bridge is still not completed and it is three days past the promised deadline.

The road surface is now even with the bridge surface. The dirt road surface was being compacted by a steamroller which was kicking up clouds of dust from the dry soil.  A large water tank truck was then following, spreading water on the road, in preparation for paving to start soon.  The actual bridge surface was covered in tar and fenced off.  There were workers doing various other jobs along the corner of the bridge and a backhoe was still digging.  There are still piles of dirt lining the roadsides. It appears as if a retaining wall or other solution might be needed where trees had been removed along one home owner's property, because the soil is on a steep slope there and the road rises high above the property.

Weather forecast calls for rain tonight, tomorrow and Thursday, which might delay the project again.

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PRESS RELEASE from First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker's office,
May 27, 2014:

(Bethel, May 27, 2014) At a conference on Friday, May 23rd between town and state transportation officials, engineers and the project contractor, the Town was informed that it will not be possible to reopen the Walnut Hill Bridge to traffic before May 30th, as predicted previously by the contractor’s engineers. They noted that the long winter, heavy snow and ongoing spring rains have slowed the pace of construction and caused the moisture content in the roadway base material to be too high to allow proper compaction prior to paving. About 350 tons of base material must still to be moved into place and compacted, a process that cannot be completed in rainy weather.

Following the conference, a ranking official with lead contractor J. Iapaluccio, Inc. issued the following statement:

"The weather has continued to create delays due to the excessive moisture content in the process aggregate and sub base material. The rain water collects on the surface and ultimately saturates the sub base material. The excess moisture prevents the ability to compact the sub base and process to the required density. As soon as the sub base material dries out, we will continue to compact the sub base to the proper density and bring in additional process to form the road base prior to paving. We intend to continue road construction and material placement Tuesday (May 27th) morning."

Further updates will be posted as new information becomes available.

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