Demolition of N. Smithfield bridge finished
Detours around Woonsocket Hill Road overpass will be in place until December
NORTH SMITHFIELD – It took less than a day of work by the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Woonsocket Hill Road overpass bridge on Route 146 is no more.
In fact, as a visit to the blocked off section of Woonsocket Hill Road at the former bridge site shows, there is hardly any remains of the old structure on either side of the highway, and certainly not in between.
Charles St. Martin III, the DOT’s spokesman, said this week that the planned removal of the bridge under the agency’s $11.8 million Route 146 Corridor Bridge Project actually was completed about 4 hours ahead of schedule after it commenced at 10 p.m. last Friday night.
The demolition project required the complete closure of Route 146 during the period of the work and the related redirection of traffic off the highway at nearby northbound and southbound exits onto detour routes.
St. Martin said the work had been scheduled to finish at 10 p.m. on Saturday but the quicker than expected pace of the demolition project had the highway reopened by 6 p.m.
That is not to say the work did not represent an inconvenience to motorists passing through the area while it was underway, according to St. Martin.
“Obviously it was a disruption for people and we appreciate the patience they gave us,” he said.
The good news for the future, St. Martin offered is that the work scheduled at the site is not expected to require another complete shutdown of the highway.
The next stage will be the rebuilding of the bridge abutments on either side of Woonsocket Hill Road and installation of any bridge piers and columns needed to support the new structure across Route 146.
When the work is expected to affect traffic on the highway, St. Martin said partial lane closures will be employed and in the case of lowering steel components, lane modifications and even travel lane slowing patterns to facilitate short closures while the components are installed.
The reconstruction of the bridge is expected to be completed by December of this year.
Although traffic on Route 146 will continue to flow through the construction site and also pass through bridge work on the Pound Hill Road Bridge carrying 146 over Pound Hill Road, motor vehicles will not be able to make their way past Route 146 on either side
of Woonsocket Hill Road until the new bridge is completed.
The popular Wright’s Dairy Farm and Bakery at 200 Woonsocket Hill Road remains open and fully accessible from the Great Road side of Woonsocket Hill Road since the bridge was closed but the business’s customers from the Route 5 and the Primrose side of Woonsocket Hill Road must take the detour routes around the highway crossing to visit Wright’s Dairy. Signage has been installed to help redirect traffic and notify motorists that Wright’s remains open for regular hours and information on the detour route can be found on the DOT’s website www.ridot.net/detourmaps.