O&G Industries Leads $54.6M I-84 Safety, Operational Improvement Job

O&G Website; February 25, 2021

The Connecticut Department of Transportation's (CTDOT) $54.6 million I-84 Safety and Operational Improvements project in West Hartford, awarded to O&G Industries Inc., is based upon the mitigation of traffic congestion and safety concerns that can arise in heavy traffic situations.

This two-stage project, financed by the state and designed by BL Companies, started in March 2020 and should be completed in summer 2023. Additional parties involved in the project include Urban Engineers Inc., hired as the construction engineering and inspection consultant.

The project runs west and east along I-84. From the west, it begins at the Farmington/West Hartford town line and ends at the Park Road on-ramp and from the east and 500 ft. east of the Ridgewood Road overpass and extends 200 ft. east of the Mayflower overpass.

Ghazi Alsaqri, CTDOT's project engineer, addressed the initiative's benefits and positive impacts.

"The existing traffic volume within the project limits is at or near capacity, and combined with closely spaced interchanges, results in congestion and weaving concerns on this section," he said. "A review of the three-year crash data between 2012 and 2014 revealed a total of 159 crashes with 48 injuries and one fatality on I-84 WB, and a total of 202 crashes with 90 injuries and one fatality on I-84 EB. The crashes seen most prominently in this time period — rear endings, sideswiping, fixed-object crashes — are indicative of issues related to congestion and vehicle weaving maneuvers.

"The region has grown and with that, the foundations built previously are no longer feasible for the increased volume," he added. "I-84 was constructed in the early 1960s to support regional mobility and commerce; and as the region has grown over the past 60 years, so has daily traffic. Upon its completion, the sections being improved will achieve project goals of increased commuter safety, local and regional commerce and freight mobility."

An additional lane is being added on I-84 WB between Exits 39A and 43, which extends 9,500 ft. Additionally, for the I-84 EB direction, a lane will be added between Exit 40 and 41, which extends 2,800 ft. The lane additions in both directions are feasible via the replacement of the Berkshire Road bridges to accommodate them.   Read More>>>

ThayerMahan-UConn Team Begins High-Resolution Seabed Surveys of Thames River

ThayerMahan Press Release, February 11, 2021

ThayerMahan, Inc., a world leader in autonomous maritime security solutions, completed an underwater survey using its SeaScout system to capture high-quality hydrographic imagery of Connecticut's Thames River.  The survey is being conducted under a National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology (NIUVT) project in conjunction with the University of Connecticut (UConn)'s Department of Marine Sciences.

For more information on ThayerMahan's subsea capabilities:  https://www.thayermahan.com/sectors/subsea-infrastructure

ThayerMahan's SeaScout system is an actively stabilized towed vehicle with synthetic aperture sonar and multibeam echosounder payloads. The system generates ultra-fine resolution (3cm x 3cm) beamformed imagery and interferometric bathymetry of undersea cables, boulders, rocks, and seafloor characteristics in real-time. For example, individual anchor chain links are visible and discernable in the image shown below:

The two-year project will locate and monitor the shifting boundaries of key biological habitats and short-term, small-scale changes in bathymetry important to the health of the Thames River and Long Island Sound ecosystems. Baseline data will be re-evaluated to identify changes in the region and enhance security within the New London port area. 
 

Michael Connor, ThayerMahan's President and CEO stated,
“ThayerMahan is thankful for the NIUVT project and is very excited about our partnership with UConn. This project, leveraging ThayerMahan's ability to rapidly gather high-quality imagery in real-time, is an important step toward safely developing the Blue Economy offshore and enabling the safe and secure use of our harbors by commercial and government vessels.  All ships, particularly those carrying environmentally sensitive cargoes and munitions, should be able to operate in restricted waters confident that neither obstructions nor threats lie in their path.  Our seabed imaging capability can make that a reality today.  ThayerMahan is proud to support the State of Connecticut and the future of the Port of New London.”

Read the full press release

Learn How Cirtonics Corporation is Serving their Community and Other Companies

Blue Innovation Symposium, February 4, 2021

Cirtronics, a woman-owned small business out of New Hampshire, shared a five minute overview of how their company is helping others. Watch today to learn more about the great things they are doing in their local community and the defense community as a whole.

Watch the Blue Innovation Symposium Flash Talk here.