AMESBURY — The 1st Lt. Derek Hines Memorial Bridge as people around Greater Newburyport knew it is no more.
Construction workers have finished removing the main swing span that connected Amesbury to Deer Island and then over to Newburyport via the Chain Bridge. Soon, they will begin construction on its replacement.
Starting in November, workers began cutting away sections of the swing span superstructure and then lifting the pieces out with two massive cranes affixed to the north and south approach spans. The pieces were then placed on trucks and carted away from the site.
The 18-month project, estimated to cost around $34 million, includes demolishing the bridge and replacing it with a wider version that includes a new swing span, approach spans, rest piers and a pivot pier. As part of the project, the bridge will be widened almost 4 feet to an overall width of 26 feet 4 inches. Sidewalks will also be widened from 3 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is leading the project.
A barge hauling parts for National Grid struck the bridge more than two years ago, damaging the northern pier and moving it 8 inches. Following the accident, the bridge was closed until temporary repairs were made, causing traffic headaches in Newburyport, Amesbury and Salisbury.
Then in mid-November, the bridge was shut down to allow for the replacement. Since then, traffic has been detoured across the Merrimack River using Interstate 95 via Route 113 and Route 110 to Route 1. In Salisbury Square, an extra lane of traffic will be created to avoid the kind of delays and backups in the summer that plagued the town two years ago during the last bridge closure.
So far, motorists seem to have taken the new routes in stride, with officials in Amesbury saying there have been few, if any, complaints. Nearby bridge neighbors have also enjoyed a mini vacation from traffic headaches, as it has become far easier to exit driveways in the morning and pull into traffic. Over in Salisbury, police say they haven't seen any traffic troubles. But the mood could change for the worse this summer when traffic picks up significantly, as thousands of people each day flock to Salisbury's beaches.
MassDOT spokesman Richard Nangle said his agency and the design-build team are beginning to revisit its traffic management plan to consider the need for traffic signal timing and other adjustments in anticipation of the seasonal traffic increases during the summer months.
Since the project began, there has been one design change that will add a projected $175,000 to the multimillion dollar project, Nangle said.
"At MassDOT's request, the contractor is developing a cost proposal to design and install a two-pinion swing span motor as opposed to the single pinion originally contemplated. The redundancy will better serve MassDOT's long-term interests regarding the service life for the replacement structure," Nangle wrote in an email.
Despite the design change, Nangle said it shouldn't impact the project's bottom line, as the $34 million budget contains $3 million to address contingencies.
Now that the swing span has been removed, the next step is to demolish the existing bridge piers and foundations, Nangle said. To do that safely, workers are in the process of building cofferdams, which will allow them to work at water level without getting wet.
Yesterday, construction workers were busy prepping the long rust-colored strips of metal before they were driven into the Merrimack River's bottom using a pinion hammer. The booming sound of the hammer hitting its target echoed along both banks of the Merrimack and could be heard for miles. A foreman at the site said it would be another two or three weeks before the cofferdams were completed.
Once the piers and foundations are removed, the final step in the demolition process is removing the remaining superstructure still connected to the north and south approaches.
For more information on the 1st Lt. Derek Hines Memorial Bridge project, visit www.mass.gov/massdot/hinesbridge.
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