Lane Closures Start Saturday on Rt. 3's Putnam Bridge

A road project will close lanes starting Saturday on the William Putnam Memorial Bridge, carrying Rt. 3 over the Connecticut River between Glastonbury and Wethersfield.

The state DOT won't close lanes during morning and evening rush hours, but you can expect closures and resulting traffic delays at any time on the weekend, overnight and midday on weekends (schedule below).

Here's the department's news release:

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing a traffic shift involving installation of new pavement markings and shifting of temporary concrete barriers on the Putnam Bridge. 

The shift will begin at 6 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2014 and will be completed that day.

Motorists may experience lane closures while Route 3 Southbound is being shifted onto a recently reconstructed portion of the north side of the bridge and Route 3 Northbound is shifted to the center of the bridge. 

The shift will allow construction crews to begin work on the south side of the structure.   

Work remaining for the rehabilitation of the Putnam Bridge includes: 

• steel and concrete repairs;

• painting of structural steel;

• replacement of the south parapet and the center median barrier; installation of a sidewalk on the south side of the bridge;

• replacement of the existing bridge bearings;

• replacement of bridge joints; and the milling and resurfacing of the bridge deck.    

Lane closures

Starting March 22, 2014, motorists can expect lane closures, northbound and southbound:

• Monday-Friday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

•  Saturday & Sunday: At any time

Some work associated with the rehabilitation project will require directional weekend closures.  A two week advance notice will be provided prior to any directional closure occurring.

DOT Contract 0053-0175 was awarded to Mohawk Northeast, Inc. of Plantsville CT on February 13, 2013 at a cost of $30,297,746.60 and is scheduled to be completed in May 2015.

More About the Bridge

In case you're curious, here's some background on the bridge, from a 2010 DOT news release concerning a public hearing on repairs to the bridge:

The Putnam Bridge, built in 1959, is a 14 span two-girder type bridge, 2,400 feet in length. 

It carries four lanes of Route 3 traffic, two 12 foot lanes with 4 foot wide inside shoulders and 3.5 foot wide outside shoulders. 

Average daily traffic on the bridge recorded in 2010 is approximately 60,000 vehicles per day.

The bridge underwent a major rehabilitation in 1987 and again in 2008 underwent deck matching and replacement of the bituminous concrete overlay.