CONCORD, Mass. – The Cape Cod Canal’s Sagamore Bridge in Bourne, Mass., will be painted under the terms of a $12,390,000.00 contract issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. Work will be accomplished by Atlas Painting and Sheeting Corp., of Amherst, New York. Field work for the project began earlier this month and will take about 18 months to complete. The expected completion date for the project is August 2014.
The project includes abrasive blast cleaning of the entire steel superstructure of the Sagamore Bridge to bare metal. The 1,408-foot-long bridge will then be re-painted with a new high performance paint system. The existing paint system on the bridge contains lead primer; therefore all work will be performed in accordance with applicable environmental regulations and health and safety standards, including containment, emissions monitoring, collection, and proper disposal of all contaminated debris. Workers are currently installing access platforms and the containment system on the bridge.
Travel lane restrictions on the Sagamore Bridge will be necessary during the project. The restrictions will be temporary and will avoid dates of peak traffic volume using the bridge. Lane restrictions are currently planned to begin during the weeks of April 8-12, 2013 and April 16-19, 2013. The plan is to take only one lane daily during 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and leave open two lanes going on Cape and one lane off Cape. These lane restrictions will be a daily set-up of traffic control devices during day light hours only. All travel lanes will be open each night and for Patriots Day, Monday, April 15, 2013. After this two-week period there may be further periodic lane restrictions, as needed.
Message boards and bridge work alert emails will be used to help inform motorists about pending lane restrictions. To sign up for bridge work alert emails send an email to CapeCodCanalBridges@usace.army.mil with the subject title “Bridge Work Alerts.” An email alert is sent when there are major changes to the bridge work status or schedule.
For more information about Corps’ projects visit the website at: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/