STV celebrates completion of the historic CT bridge rehab

124-year-old swing bridge reimagined for the 21st century opens to the community ahead of schedule

STV celebrated the completion of the rehabilitation of the Grand Avenue Bridge with Mayor Justin Elicker, City of New Haven officials and the local community, marking the reopening of the historic span ahead of schedule and right on budget.

STV led construction inspection services for rehabilitation of the Grand Avenue Bridge, which was built in 1898. The project is expected to extend the structure’s overall lifespan for decades and significantly reduce the city’s annual maintenance costs. 

“The mechanics that make up the inner-workings of this almost 125-year old bridge are complex and fascinating,” said Nicholas Altebrando, P.E., STV vice president and technical director of its national bridge practice. “Working with our client and our partners, we remained diligent with the schedule in the face challenges and are thrilled to have restored this important connector to its community ahead of time.”

The nearly $25 million project extended the approach spans on either side of the bridge to eliminate two spans and reduce future maintenance costs. The swing span deck and floor system were replaced with new stringers and a composite exodermic bridge deck with a polyester polymer concrete overlay, maximizing the compressive strength of concrete and the tensile strength of steel to provide a thinner deck and lighter structure so an improved live load capacity and durability could be achieved. In addition, mechanical parts were repaired or replaced, and new state-of-the-art controls were added to a fully renovated bridgetender’s control house at the top of the bridge.

STV has provided engineering design and other professional services for projects in Connecticut for more than 60 years, including providing construction engineering inspection services for Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) for the $40 million rehabilitation project of the I-84 viaduct, an eight-bridge structure in Hartford. As one of the top 25 highway and bridge design and engineering firms in the country, STV’s bridge capabilities include unique coastal bridges, bridge widenings and replacement projects for fixed, movable, long-span and viaduct structures. The firm has worked on such iconic bridges as Longfellow Bridgeand Congress Street Bridge in Massachusetts and Kosciuszko Bridge in New York.