Project Update #16 – 07/13/2012

Upcoming Work
The following work is planned for the week of 7/16/2012:

• The contractor will be performing miscellaneous concrete work associated with the brick banding and tree frames for the sidewalks that have been poured to date. This work will take place on the street side half of the poured sidewalks where the proposed brick banding and tree frames are to be installed. The back half of the poured sidewalks should remain open for pedestrians. The on-street parking will be temporarily closed while work is taking place and reopened at the conclusion of the work day.
• The reconstruction of the sidewalk on the westerly side of Washington Street from School Street to Bryant Street will begin this week. Work will consist of the removal of existing curbing and concrete sidewalks, installation of underground utilities, installation of new granite curbing and grading and forming for the pouring of the new concrete sidewalk. The brick banding will be installed in the sidewalk at a later date. The sidewalk and the 7 on-street parking spaces within this limit of work will be temporarily closed for up to 3 weeks. Temporary access ways through the construction area will be provided for all businesses and residential buildings while construction in this area takes place.
• The reconstruction of the Keystone Parking Lot retaining wall is scheduled to continue this week. Work will consist of the construction of the new concrete retaining wall, facing the concrete retaining wall with stone veneers cut from the existing retaining wall blocks and backfilling the retaining wall on the parking lot side to construct the remainder of the Keystone Parking Lot. Approximately 250 feet of sidewalk adjacent to the retaining wall from Eastern Avenue to the Route 1 bridge overpass will be closed for approximately 6-10 weeks. The existing 10 parking spaces located on High Street adjacent to the retaining wall will be unavailable for approximately 4-5 weeks during the construction of the concrete retaining wall. Once the concrete wall is poured and backfilled, the parking spaces will be once again available.
• Various utility companies will be working within the area of High Street near the retaining wall where the new utility poles have been installed over the next several months to switch their overhead utilities from the existing poles to the new poles. Once all the overhead utilities are switched over, the old poles will be removed.
• The contractor will be removing the remainder of the existing 24 street trees that exist within the square for the construction of the new sidewalks. There will be approximately 42 new street trees being planted within the sidewalk area as part of the improvement project. The new street trees are anticipated to be planted either this fall or next spring.

Except where noted above, the working hours for this week will be 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Project Status

• As of 7/12/2012, the project is 109 days (17.9%) into the 610 consecutive calendar days allotted for completion.
• As of 7/12/2012, the contractor has worked 55.5 day shifts and 9 night shift for a total of 64.5 working days (17.9%) out of the maximum 360 working days allowed for the project.

Project Update

• The paved section of the Keystone Parking Lot has been striped for parking. There are currently about 113 available parking spaces out of the 138 total spaces that will be available upon completion of the parking lot. The previous configuration of the old Keystone Lot yielded about 90 parking spaces, so there are an additional 23 spaces with more to come in the future.

Project Changes
The Town has approved the following change orders to the project:

• Replacement of the proposed Keystone Parking Lot “Fan-Style” Light Poles & Fixtures with the Ornamental Light Poles & Fixtures to be used throughout the square for street lighting. The cost associated with this change order is $72,000.
• Extend the reconstruction limits of the Keystone Parking Lot Retaining Wall approximately 25 feet to meet the portion of the retaining wall reconstructed by MassDOT during the Route 1 Bridge Project. The cost associated with this change order is $64,000.
• A total of $136,000 out of the $633,000 project contingency is being utilized for these changes.

About the DSIP
This weekly construction update is intended to give residents, businesses, and motorists a look ahead of the activities planned for the upcoming week.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Director of Engineering, Jason Mammone at (781) 751-9350 or jmammone@dedham-ma.gov.