300 State Bridges Failing, Report Says
A report from a Washington transportation research group says more than 300 of Connecticut’s bridges are “structurally deficient.”
A new report from TRIP, a Washingtonbased transportation research group, says more than 300 of Connecticut’s 4,254 bridges are “structurally deficient.”
The term doesn’t mean the bridges are unsafe, but it does mean there is “significant deterioration” of the bridge deck, supports or other major components.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and offi- cials from TRIP released the report at a news conference at the state Capitol Thursday. It comes amid Connecticut’s struggle to set aside adequate funding for transportation. Legislators have repeatedly rejected proposals to put up electronic tolls on the state’s highways.
“Without increased and reliable transportation funding, numerous projects to improve and preserve Connecticut’s aging bridges will not move forward, hampering the state’s ability to efficiently and safely move people and goods,” Will Wilkins, TRIP’s executive director, said in a news release.
According to the report, 59 percent of Connecticut’s bridges are 50 years or older, the fourth-highest percentage in the U.S. The average age of all of Connecticut’s bridges is 53 years and the average age of the structurally deficient bridges is 69 years.
Bridges built from the 1950s to 1970s, when a significant number of Connecticut’s bridges were constructed, have a typical lifespan of 50 years, according to TRIP.
Here are the 10 bridges in Hartford County that received the lowest scores in TRIP’s report:
Bloomfield: Route 189 over Wash Brook; built in 1916; average daily traffic is 9,800
South Windsor: Main Street over Podunk River; built in 1907; average daily traffic is 1,510
Bloomfield: Route 178 over Beaman
During a withering examination by defense attorney Pat Tomasiewicz, the detective insisted the note that provided a narrative of events on the day the professor was killed was in the second file labeled “2017 incident.”
“Here we had someone telling the whole story of what had happened so it was very clear to me where I found that,” Clabby said.
Citing a case, State vs. Lenarz, Tomasiewicz and fellow defense attorney Brian Karpe argued the murder case against Kosuda-Bigazzi should be dismissed because there is no way she can get a fair trial.
Judge Vernon D. Oliver is holding the rare hearing, which he periodically closes to the public in order to prevent the exact contents of the documents in question from being disclosed publicly.
Oliver must first determine if the documents are covered by attorneyclient privilege and then what the remedy should be.
In May, a judge removed the New Britain state’s attorney’s office from the case after a prosecutor said he inadvertently viewed documents seized by state police that may fall under attorney-client privilege. The defense now wants the case dismissed.
Kosuda-Bigazzi is accused of murdering her husband by hitting him with a hammer and then wrapping his body in plastic and storing it in the basement for several months.
She is free on a $1.5 million bail and has attended every session of the hearing.
Pierliugi Bigazzi was last seen at UConn Health in July 2017 and was not in regular contact with his supervisors at the hospital.
The university had been paying his salary until his body was discovered in February, after UConn officials asked police to check on him.
The file cabinets were among the last things state police searched since they needed a second search warrant to cut the locks.
Clabby testified when he found the note, he started reading it to other detectives. He then placed the files in a box with other papers found in the file cabinet.
Defense lawyers want New Britain State’s Attorney Brian Preleski and an assistant state’s attorney who handled the initial arrest warrant to testify.