Construction Equipment Guide
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Wed January 31, 2001 - Northeast Edition
Not since Interstate 89 was stretched across the state of Vermont in the 1960s has there been a construction project as large as the bypass being built around Bennington, in the southwest corner of the state. But this project, whose price tag could top $150 million by its completion, has surpassed even that earlier monumental operation.
Jokingly dubbed a “double bypass,” it will allow traffic on U.S. Route 7 and Vermont State Route 9 to totally skirt downtown Bennington — for many years a bane for people driving through the area. Vehicles also will go around Bennington’s neighbor to the west, Old Bennington.
When the project is concluded, traffic approaching Bennington from New York state will be steered northeast (that intersection actually will be located across the state line in New York) and connect with the present Route 7 coming in from the north.
It then circles around to the east side and crosses the original Route 9 about 2 mi. east of downtown. At that point, the Route 9 bypass will be completed. But the highway will continue on to the south edge of town and intersect Route 7 as the last part of that bypass.
In all, the new road will cover 13 mi. and surround three-fourths of the community. It also will help eliminate bottlenecked traffic in downtown Bennington and keep those streets exclusively for local vehicles.
Bridges also will play a large part in the entire project. When everything is done, 13 brand new bridges will be built, including a 900-ft. (273 m) span on the western segment and another measuring 600 ft. (182 m) on the north side. Two bridges on the west are nearly finished and 1 mi. (1.6 km) of highway is expected to be paved next year.
Not all of the construction consists of highway. A new welcome center also is planned at the northernmost apex of the loop.
Stephen Lynch, project manager with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), explains that the road is being designed similarly to the three-lane Route 7 between Bennington and Manchester, 25 mi. (40 km) to the north, complete with climbing lanes going in either direction as needed.
This is a major project for the community, one that may not be completed until 2012. Lynch estimates that it will take three or four years to complete each of the three segments. Once one of the portions is done, workers will go directly on to the next one.
Most of the work so far has been centered at the western end of the highway in New York state.
But it is more than just a construction project — it also is an archeological excavation. While digging for one of the bridges on the western section where Furnace Brook flows into the Walloomsac River, a 4,500-year-old American Indian site was discovered. It turned out to be one of the most significant archeological sites in Vermont.
“It is not a typical find,” Lynch explained. The VTrans set aside $3 million for the excavation and before it was finished, as many as 3,000 people from all over the world came to view the site. Visitors included children from local elementary schools to others from as far away as South Korea, Japan and Germany. Some of the artifacts are now on display at the VTrans office in Bennington.
“It didn’t slow things down at all. We brought in the archeologists early,” Lynch said. “We’re rather proud of what we did.” The digging took place in 1997 and 1998 and was built right into the project schedule. As many as 585 cu. yds. (450.25 cu m) of sediment was removed from the site.
But that’s nothing compared to the nearly 2.6 million cu. yds. (2 million cu m) of dirt expected to be moved for the entire project.
The bypass also has been nominated for a national Environmental Excellence Award, which is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. This is especially important because “Vermont has high pride in its environmental concerns,” Lynch said.
Lynch said that the project is being overseen by the VTrans, even the small portion located in New York state. There, the primary contractor doing the work is Kubricky Construction of Glens Falls, NY. At the same time, there are 21 different contracts for work on the western portion alone. Each company uses its own equipment. None of it is state owned.
John Walsh of Kubricky explained that his company used a Cat 330 for its excavating work last year, as well as Volvo articulated trucks. As for the two bridges that have been nearly completed, the construction company utilized DeMarco bridge finishers. When paving starts on the road once warm weather arrives, Kubricky plans to have pile drivers and 100-ton (90 t) track cranes on hand.
The majority of the funding for the bypass project comes from the FHA, which then allocates the moneys to each state, Lynch explained.