As part of our master services agreement with MassDOT, Weston & Sampson provided design and is currently providing construction engineering services the replacement of the single-span bridge, currently out of service, which carries Maskwonicut Street over the MBTA/Amtrak Northeast Corridor railroad tracks in the Town of Sharon, Massachusetts.
The project involved:
- Designing of a new 54.5-foot single-span steel girder bridge with precast concrete deck superstructure and concrete bridge rails with an electrification barrier.
- Raising the roadway profile to accommodate the proposed superstructure depth and provide an increase in the vertical clearance to the tracks below.
- Removing the existing stone masonry abutments and installing new abutments behind the existing ones to increase the substandard horizontal clearance to the railroad tracks. The existing stone masonry will be used as a veneer on the new abutments.
- Updating utilities and coordinating utility relocations (including water, drainage, electrical, and telecommunications) to support the new bridge structure.
- Coordination with Amtrak and the MBTA which includes modifications to the overhead catenary system at the bridge location.
- Geotechnical services consisting of planning and overseeing the program of borings and probes, preparation of boring logs, and preparation of a geotechnical report providing foundation and earthwork construction recommendations as wells as geotechnical design parameters.
- Environmental permitting involved working with MassDOT’s Environmental Section and providing required permit documentation for the US Army Corps of Engineers and MassDEP.
- Public engagement involved attending and presenting the scope of the project at a design public hearing, a public informational meeting, and a couple local Planning Board meetings. Also involved listening to and addressing abutters and stakeholders concerns with the project.
Major project challenges include:
- Construction of a new replacement bridge over the Amtrak rail lines that are part of the high-speed northeast corridor; construction to take place in limited window of time.
- Existing stone masonry abutment and stone arch culvert are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places; close coordination for the preservation of the existing stone masonry arch culvert and wingwalls to remain.
- Residential road with houses adjacent to existing bridge structure on either side.
The project was advertised in the summer of 2021 with construction starting in Spring of 2022.