Enfield Bridge Repairs are Complete

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Photo by Lester Smith

Viewed from near Pearl Street in Enfield at about 4:30 p.m. on September 30, paving equipment was parked at the end of the Enfield exit ramp, which had been closed to traffic for the final paving.

The Observer had advised its readers that the Enfield-Suffield Veterans bridge maintenance and repair project, which was underway, slowly, for quite a while and did indeed experience a work stoppage in mid-summer (out of respect for a new falcon brood in the structure), was still on schedule to be completed by the end of November. By mid-November, the maintenance and repairs to the bridge were, in fact, finished.

Milling and paving the road surface, including the Enfield entrance and exit ramps, had occupied much of the time recently, with frequent shifting of dozens of traffic cones and barrels to maintain traffic during the work. When the accompanying photo was taken on September 30, the photographer was told by one of the repair crew and by the Enfield policeman on duty that that day was the last of the work. It seems that he was speaking only of the paving, which was indeed complete, but small tasks continued during much of October, including a number of drain gratings along the edges and the joints between bridge sections (above every pier except two in the middle of the one three-pier span). Joints are necessary because the spans expand and contract with changes in temperature, and it’s a rare multiple-span bridge that can be crossed without hearing “bump-bump, bump-bump” as one crosses.

The construction office trailer disappeared early in November, and by mid-month only some silt fences remained along with, most notably, the construction storage yard next to the traffic lights on East Street North.

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