2020 Update #33
300-Ton Crane’s Arrival Downtown Signals Start of Main Event
The Highlights
10-Week Closure of Main Street begins Monday, July 13
Virtual Public Meeting scheduled for 7 PM Wednesday, July 8
Temporary lane closure next week on Main Street to install water line
Middle Seymour Street detour back in place next Monday and Tuesday
Early Monday afternoon a small fleet of flatbed trucks arrived in Triangle Park carrying the component parts of the 300-ton crane that now sits in the center of downtown. Then the crane’s owner, Bay Crane, and Kubricky went to work, assembling over the next eight hours the crane’s housing, tracks, counterweights, and boom segments, which eventually extended out into Main Street.
With Main Street closed to thru traffic, evening dog walkers and after-dinner strollers began gathering on the sidewalk to watch a 100-ton crane (to the right in the photo above) lift each boom segment into place. By 9:30 the crane was assembled and the crane operator slowly raised the boom into an upright position.
Some facts and figures for the curious. The boom is 164 feet high. The crane weighs 650,000 pounds. There are 400,000 pounds of counterweights sitting on its back end. It will pick and set precast concrete pieces that weigh as much as 40 tons. And the orange and white flag is an “aerial marker” should any aircraft unexpectedly wander into our airspace over downtown.
What’s Happening During Those 10 Weeks?
If you’re a regular reader of this weekly update you probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect during this summer’s construction once Main Street is closed for 10 weeks on Monday, July 13.
For the very latest, though, you'll want to "Zoom in" to attend a virtual public meeting hosted by the Middlebury Selectboard this coming Wednesday, July 8, at 7 PM. VTrans and Kubricky project managers will provide an overview of the construction timeline and activities that will take us through to September 21 and the reopening of Main Street and Merchants Row. You can also watch the presentation after the fact at MCTV.
To join the meeting from your computer, just click on the following link:
And type in this password: 153287
You can also join by phone:
+1 646 558 8656
ID: 949 9483 9950
Password: 153287
Your Weekly Construction Update
The 200-ton crane sitting in Printer’s Alley went to work overnight on Monday and Tuesday as Kubricky began trucking some 30 precast concrete u-walls into the north end of the project on the Marble Works side of the rail corridor opposite the National Bank’s Seymour Street branch. Here they will reside until ready to be set in place a little later this summer.
The Marble Works road that runs in front of Junebug and Otter Creek Yoga will be closed to thru traffic until the u-walls are set in place in the rail corridor. I’ll provide a date on the reopening when I have that information in hand.
Next week ECI will complete its work upgrading the Town’s stormwater drainage system on Middle Seymour Street (the back entrance to the Marble Works). That means that on Monday and Tuesday the detour into Marble Works from Seymour Street will go back into effect. Middle Seymour Street will reopen each evening no later than 7 PM.
Also next week Kubricky will be installing a new waterline underneath Main Street to supply water to the fire hydrant in Triangle Park that has temporarily been removed during construction. That will require lane closures on Main Street, similar to what we experienced in May. I don’t yet have a date for when that work will take place.
Otherwise, next week promises to be fairly quiet as Kubricky prepares for the 10-week closure of Main Street by mobilizing in more equipment and materials and generally getting ready for the main event of Middlebury's Downtown Rail & Bridge Project.
For now, all that’s left is to wish you and yours a Happy Fourth!
That’s all for today. See you soon.
Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.