Offshore wind developer to map seafloor for pair of new projects SOUTHBOUND GOLD STAR BRIDGE TRAFFIC TO BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE FOR WORK

Providence (AP) — An offshore wind developer is mapping the seafloor off southern New England to design two new wind farms.

Providence-based Deepwater Wind said Friday it’s deploying a survey vessel and two dozen experts next week from Rhode Island to begin surveying its federal lease site.

The company plans to build a wind farm there to supply power to Rhode Island and Connecticut and another wind farm for Long Island.

Deepwater Wind says the five-month effort will influence the turbines’ design and location. It’s looking for buried boulders and measuring the seafloor’s depth and slope.

The 256-square-mile area is roughly midway between Block Island, R.I., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Deepwater Wind is planning a third wind farm near Maryland. It built the first U.S. offshore wind farm off Block Island.

The state Department of Transportation said it will reduce traffic on the southbound Gold Star Bridge to one lane between midnight and 4 a.m. on Monday night and Tuesday night, if necessary, as a subcontractor places new overhead sign structures on the southbound bridge.

DOT said it will need to start reducing some traffic lanes on the southbound bridge, starting about 7 p.m. on those nights, but the bridge won’t go down to one lane until midnight.

“During the lane closures a crane will be set at mid-roadway width and manlifts at each tower leg,” DOT said in the announcement. “The crane will pick the truss section from a staged position behind the barrier, swing it into position and where workers in the manlifts will secure it to the tower legs.”

The contractor is allowed to stop traffic for 10 minutes sometime between midnight and 4 a.m. to set the truss structure in place, DOT said. State troopers will be present.

The work to place the signs began on Thursday.

DOT said it plans to detour Exit 84 traffic when the last sign structure near the exit is set in place, which will take place either on Monday or Tuesday. The traffic detour will begin at 8 p.m. and will direct traffic to Exit 83 off Frontage Road.

A message board will notify people 48 hours prior to the ramp detour.