Maine Department of Transportation officials told city staff, residents and business owners attending a meeting last week that the Route 1 viaduct superstructure replacement project has been delayed by six months, resulting in a schedule that should see the viaduct closed in January 2017.

Brice Urquhart of FIGG Engineering

Group told about a dozen people gathered in the auditorium of City Hall that the preliminary design of the bridge repair was completed over the summer. To minimize the construction schedule, the plan is to limit closure of the viaduct to four months in the winter. The project will likely also include night work to get construction done faster, as residents have requested.

“When we do close the viaduct, we’re looking at using a similar traffic flow plan that was implemented back in 2007,” during a deck replacement, Urquhart said — with some revisions given that the project will be taking place in winter conditions. The plan is to keep the viaduct open during the peak season — from Memorial Day to Columbus Day; and two lanes each open along Leeman Highway during off-season peak traffic times and one lane each way at offpeak traffic times.

Included in the project are some major improvements planned for the Washington and Centre streets interchanges, with traffic signals, signs and markings that should make for a “vast improvement” over what’s there now, Urquhart said. Pedestrian crossing and landscape improvements will be made. A secondary railroad line under the viaduct will be removed. A two-lane closure at the Washington Street intersection is expected as well for a stormwater drain reconstruction.

The goal is to build a structure with a 50-year life span that will have tie-in features, such as railings and roadway lighting, with the Sagadahoc Bridge it connects to, so they look like one structure.

There are several piers with exposed reinforcement. During the geotechnical survey the piers tested high strength but also with high chlorides, so several will be replaced. The steel pilings were in good shape though some will undergo strengthening before the viaduct replacement.

“We’re looking at some complicated construction challenges,” Urquhart said. They hope to utilize local contractors and equipment to get the best cost savings, best schedule and best bridge, as well as the least traffic impacts.

The work now is planned to be advertised in winter 2015 or early 2016 — which is about six months later than initially scheduled. The viaduct closure is planned for January to April or May of 2017.

Halcyon Blake owns a building near the viaduct, and asked how the deck drainage issues will be dealt with, because currently there are open drains dropping water 20 feet to the ground. The drains get clogged so water is sent over the side of the viaduct by passing vehicles, another resident said. Urquhart said drains will be minimized and water will be drained through a pipe system.

While there will be less drains, they will be bigger, he said.

With a building within about 10 feet of the viaduct, Blake asked MDOT officials about plans to address the issue of pebbles and sand hitting the building during plowing on the viaduct. A permanent structure component is not planned to address this issue, said project manager Joel Kittridge.

MDOT officials said they will be in touch with the city to make sure the word gets out before traffic impacts begin taking place.

The goal

THE GOAL IS TO BUILD a structure with a 50-year life span that will have tie-in features, such as railings and roadway lighting, with the Sagadahoc Bridge it connects to, so they look like one structure.

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