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Skanska is managing bridge jobs in Massachusetts with design-build contracts for projects across six locations. Their engineering expertise aims to improve safety, efficiency, and extend the life of these vital infrastructure components. Scheduled completion for most projects is by the end of the 2026 construction season.
Thu January 23, 2025 - Northeast Edition #3
Design-build contracts can offer the benefits of a large construction firm's intimate knowledge of what it does best to be applied to a community project. The result can be cost and time savings, improved safety and other benefits. When the Skanska USA Civil Northeast won contracts to rebuild and upgrade several bridges in Massachusetts, the company quickly put some of its best strategies into action.
The projects for Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) include a $29 million job to rebuild the Route 3 bridge (Pilgrims Highway), located over Franklin Street in Duxbury. A separate contract encompass the replacement of eight bridge decks across locations in Duxbury, Lakeville, Mansfield, Plymouth and Wareham. This piece of the rehabilitation work has a price tag of $37 million.
Rob Collari is the project executive of Skanska on both projects. Bridge projects are almost always complicated, even when no additional lanes are being added. The Pilgrim Highway job has added scrutiny because it is a major route from Boston and other cities to Cape Cod. So, from June-September the traffic can be intense with people eager to start their vacations or to return home.
Skanska also faced the difficulty of a 14-month permitting period before the construction giant could begin work. The bridge work is scheduled to be completed at the end of the construction season in 2026.
Skanska photo
Skanska is working with the design firm, Benesch, as well as several major subcontractors: Don Martin, paving; Saugus Construction, structural erection; J.R. Vinagro, demolition; Gemstone, painting; DeLucca Fence, railings and guardrail.
Bridge deck repair and replacement:
"Our job is to efficiently preserve and extend the lives of the bridges in these communities," said Collari. "We are at about 20 percent complete with these projects and anticipate a small scope for moving utilities. As with most projects like this, we have established detours, cleared and grubbed adjacent land, began removing guard rails, sandblasted and primed the existing steel beams and removed the existing bridge decks. Later we will replace the bearings, place new concrete decks and perform a full-depth reconstruction of the roadways at the bridge approaches."
Most of the bridges will be closed during the work with long-term detours in place. Still ahead will be the final stages of bridge work, which will include painting the existing beams and installing guardrails and barriers. In conjunction with the construction of the new bridge decks, repairs to concrete bridge abutment walls support piers are required. Finally, new curbs and sidewalks will be constructed.
In addition to the multiple designs for the different projects, Skanska needed to deploy different teams because much of the work was being done simultaneously in the different locations.
"We are trying to be efficient with the placement of our people," said Collari. "The logistics are more challenging than the actual construction on the bridge decks. Some of the bridges had pieces of the deck spalling, so getting the repairs done is crucial."
Skanska is currently working at three sites: East Street, in Duxbury; George Street in Mansfield; and River Street in Plymouth. George Street Bridge is the furthest along, with the sandblasting and priming of the existing steel beams completed, concrete deck removed, bearings replaced, deck forms mostly completed and reinforcing steel being installed. Skanska hopes to place this bridge deck during this winter if weather permits.
The East Street bridge is at a similar stage, but an emergency replacement of an existing waterline across the bridge has taken precedence over the installation of deck forms. The River Street bridge has had the sandblasting and priming of the existing steel beams completed but is currently awaiting the heat straightening of one of the existing steel beams before demolition of the existing deck can be performed. Collari said that the supply chain issues present during the pandemic have improved but are still not yet back to normal.
The Pilgrim Highway piece of the project is where the Skanska team's design skills will bear the most fruit. This project is the full replacement of an existing set of bridges that carries Route 3 over Franklin Street in Duxbury, Mass. Working with the design firm, CHA, the project team has developed construction stages that enable the team to meet the project's strict environmental requirements by building a new bridge and conserving 9,000 sq. ft. of wetlands that would have been eliminated had a preliminary concept been used.
Skanska photo
The construction team's work on Route 3 will require several steps and will be crucial for handling traffic and providing room for the new construction. Design was completed in October 2024, and Skanska has implemented a shift of traffic on Route 3 to create the work zone in the median for the new bridge construction.
Step 1: Shift the traffic to the outside shoulder of the current bridge, install markings and safety barriers.
Stage 2: Partial demolition of northbound and southbound Route 3.
Stage 3: Excavation and construction of abutment walls and temporary soil nail walls on Franklin Street.
Step 4: Install beams to cover Franklin Street Build bridge barriers, construct roadway approaches and barriers.
Step 5: Switch traffic onto completed Route 3 bridges and demolish old Route 3.
Step 6: Construct and backfill the remaining abutments for the new Route 3 bridge.
Step 7: Install remaining beams over Franklin Street beam, place concrete.
Step 8: Construct remaining approach slabs and bridge barriers.
Step 9: Build remaining Route 3 bridges and approaches and complete Franklin Street reconstruction.
Workers will build approximately 2,000 ft. of pavement on both the northbound and southbound approaches to the new bridges.
"Nearly one mile of asphalt road will need to be removed," said Collari. "Much of that road will be recycled and used elsewhere in the project. We will be improving the drainage, which will retain water into catch basins and be diverted to the wetlands."
Franklin Street, which passes under the new bridge, will require upgrades to meet current standards, including sidewalks with handicap ramps.
Of course, workers paving in Massachusetts must consider the weather.
"We will be marking the pavement during the final stages and inserting reflectors beneath the surface where snowplows will not damage them."
Paving will be done in three passes with the final product at 9.5 in. thick. The surface will be Superpave, which is a standard interstate mix. The road will be supported with a 6-in. dense-graded gravel subgrade on 10 in. of gravel borrow. The composition of the road and subbase is required to deal with frost and ice and still provide a long-lasting highway.
The Skanska team's work in planning and building these bridges and highways should have considerable impact for the future. Collari said, "I believe the daily commute will be considerably improved as will the safety for motorists." CEG
Chuck MacDonald is an editor, blogger and freelance feature writer whose writing adventures have taken him to 48 states and 10 countries. He has been the editor for magazines on pavement construction, chemicals, insurance and missions. Chuck enjoys bicycling, kayaking and reading. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism. Chuck lives in Annapolis, Md. with his wife Kristen. They have seven grandchildren.