DOT re Moody Bridge

Post date: Apr 05, 2021 7:47:55 PM

Hi Jason,

I am following up in our conversation regarding needed repair for the Moody Bridge and the short proposal for its closure during construction.

MassDOT is looking to repair the bridge wearing surface and do limited deck work. MassDOT wants to do this preservation work in a proactive way and avoid emergency closure if the condition worsen.

For this repair, we are proposing to close the bridge for 3 weekends, preferable in the Summer of 2022, with a detour. The detour will use town roads, therefore we are looking at:

Start the conversation and find out if there are any dates/weekends that work best for the town and provide minimum disturbance or inconveniences.
- Discuss the detour route, as it uses town roads and the road’ segments it involves. If the Moody Bridge was to be closed, the alternate route back to Route 7 would be Bridges Road to North Hoosac Road to Cole Ave to Main Street and vice versa.
- Although the work could likely be accomplished in 2 weekends, we are asking the town to provide 3 dates, in the event there is set back due to the weather
- Night temperature for doing this work should be above 47 degrees, therefore weekends between May and September 2022 could work.

The proposed scope for this work involves:

1. Milling (7/8” deep) the southbound lane
2. Hydro-excavate ½” of the southbound lane and any additional unsound concrete
3. Partial depth concrete excavation of the southbound lane by pneumatic hammers
4. Replace rebar where necessary
5. Rapid set patches of the partial depth excavation
6. Apply rapid set latex modified overlay
7. Reopen the bridge for the week
8. Close the bridge a second time again using the detour for another 60-hour weekend
9. Repeat the steps above for the northbound lane
10. Additional work under this contract to be completed when feasible either during the closures mentioned or without closing: bridge cleaning of the joints and scuppers, remove and reset/new granite curb, sealing cracks in the deck, sidewalk repair, if necessary
11. Sawcut grooves in the bridge deck

Project is for October 2021 advertising, time is extremely limited to proceed with project, as funds are available for this repair.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further info.

Thanks-Francisca

Francisca Heming

District Highway Director

MassDOT – Highway- District 1

Jason

I am doing some follow up on behalf of Francisca regarding work on the Moody Bridge. It is my understanding that there is a selectboard meeting scheduled for April 12^th when details and closures will be presented and discussed. It is also my understanding, that you will present information and MassDOT attendance would not be required.

Regarding truck exclusions. There are no truck exclusions in place on the roadways that would be involved in a detour around the bridge. The detour route would be Sand Springs/Bridges/North Hoosac/Cole/Main and vice versa.

Although google earth indicates exclusion signs at the intersection of Sand Springs road and Route 7, these signs are not due to exclusions on the roadways identified in the detour above. They may have been intended for trucks continuing to North Adams where North Hoosac turns into Massachusetts Ave. Massachusetts Avenue in North Adams does have an exclusion in place (see truck exclusion map attached).

Attached for informational purposes as well are the Guidelines for truck exclusions.

As far as truck volumes are concerned.

As a general rule, traffic volumes, including trucks, go down on a road like Route 7 on weekends, especially Sundays.

At this time MassDOT does not have available weekend volumes on Route 7 in Williamstown or on any of the detour roads, however we have a permanent count station on Route 7 in Lanesborough that can be informative and shed some light on the matter at hand.

Review of the latest data from the Lanesborough location is as follows:

- Saturday total volumes is about 10% lower than weekday total volumes.
- Saturday truck volume is about 50% lower than weekday truck volumes.
- Sunday total volumes is about 40% lower than weekday total volumes.
- Saturday truck volume is about 66% lower than weekday truck volumes.

I have also attached for your reference, recent information from the Lanesborough count station in support of the summary given above. This information provides a breakdown of vehicles (length), volumes, times of day and days of week.