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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor CHICOPEE By the time you read this story, you might be aware of the driving challenge in Chicopee this week: the Deady Bridge is closed. Scheduled to re-open at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 26, the bridge was closed to allow workers to unload and position a set of concrete beams, accord to City Engineer Stephen Frederick. Frederick said the only way to unload the huge beams, which will be placed directly on the bridge's new piers, is by bringing the trucks onto the bridge where a crane will be brought in to move them. "It's another milestone," he said. The closing might not take as much time as allocated if the weather cooperates, he added. The cost of the crane is an incentive for the contractors to get the work done as quickly as possible he explained. Frederick noted that some people might not think a lot of has been going on at the construction site, but he said most of the building has been at the river level and difficult for motorists and pedestrians to see. Part of that work has bee setting the bridge's abutments using what he said was a "tremendous amount of concrete." Noting the long re-building process, Frederick said the coordination between the contractor and utility companies has been "tough." Underneath the bridge there are telephone, electrical and other utility lines and conduits. All of these had to be moved from one side of the bridge to the other for the temporary deck to be built. They are now being moved back to their permanent location. |