Bridging the gap
RIDOT crews connect North Smithfield, city portion of Blackstone River Bikeway
WOONSOCKET — In a project that required precision maneuvering and nerves of steel, contractors for the state Department of Transportation Monday braved torrential rains to hoist and install a 182-foot truss-style bridge over the Blackstone River between Woonsocket and North Smithfield, which will connect a six-tenths of a mile segment of the Blackstone River Bikeway from Cold Spring Park in Woonsocket to Meadows Park in North Smithfield.
The steel truss bridge arrived in two sections last Thursday, with one 126-foot section weighing 100,000 pounds placed at the river’s edge on the Woonsocket side, and a 56-foot, 60,000-pound section on the North Smithfield side.
Two crane operators – one on each side of the river – collaborated to hoist the two sections up into the air where
they were slowly swung out over the river and walked into position. Two workers stationed on a telescopic boom lift connected the sections together to complete the span, which will now carry the bike path from Woonsocket to North Smithfield.
“Just a couple of bolts and it’s connected,” noted one worker on the North Smithfield side of the operation.
The cranes were supposed to start lifting the bridge at 8 o’clock, but the heavy rain yesterday morning delayed the start until approximately 12:45. At that point, the rain had let up enough to allow crews on both sides of the river to start preparing the crane slings and other rigging equipment.
“All this money to get this equipment here, it’s definitely going to get done today,” said another worker, adding the bridge sections, cranes and other equipment were brought in late last week.
With the bridge now connected, welders and other crews will spend the coming days constructing the bridge decking.
This new section of the Blackstone River Bikepath, called Segment 8C, costs approximately $4.5 million. The Green Economy Bond, which Rhode Island voters in 2016 overwhelmingly approved to support investments in water quality, land cleanup, farmland, recreational facilities and open space, is covering $1.4 million of the project’s construction cost.
The 8C segment is entirely off-road and travels on or adjacent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Control System along the river. Construction is expected to be completed and the new path open in the fall of 2019.
“The next segment, 8B1, goes from Market Square to Truman Drive just south of Clinton Street,” said DOT Spokesman Charles St. Martin. “It starts this summer. Two more segments in Woonsocket are set to start in the next two to four years.”
The new bike path will add to the 16.4 miles of the Blackstone River Bikeway RIDOT has built in multiple segments since 1998, making it Rhode Island’s second-longest bike path. Statewide, RIDOT has established a bike path network of over 60 miles in length.
It’s also a critical link to a 3.7-mile segment of the counterpart of the new Blackstone River Greenway in Massachusetts that begins at the terminus of 8C and continues to Providence Street in Uxbridge.
The Greenway in this stretch is 3.7 miles of trails and a multi-use path along the former railroad line between South Uxbridge, Route 146A, through Millville and to the Blackstone Depot site. The project itself terminates at Route 146A in Uxbridge. Additionally, several miles in Uxbridge, from the Greenway trail near Route 146 Exit 1 to the River Bend Farm on Oak Street, is being evaluated by the state’s engineering and design firm.
The third and last contract is the actual construction of the entire Greenway, which will link all the bridges, the tunnel, and reconstruction of the most complicated bridge – the Triad Bridge in Millville.
The cost for all three construction contracts is $20 million, and is one of the most expensive Greenway sections ever built in New England.
When completed, the trail will go from Route 146A in Uxbridge to the Rhode Island border – roughly 3.7 miles in length – then from the Rhode Island border all the way to Providence, for a total of 24 miles.
The Blackstone River Greenway was conceived of as including a 48-mile long bikeway connecting Worcester to Providence, running the length of the National Heritage Corridor and following the Blackstone River and Canal wherever possible. The Greenway will also connect to the already completed East Bay Bike Path, allowing users to continue to Bristol, and ultimately, Newport.
In Massachusetts, approximately 3.5 miles of the bikeway are complete, including 2.5 miles of off-road facility in Millbury and Worcester. In Worcester, additional on-road path stretches connect the Greenway with various neighborhoods, including Quinsigamond Village, where a bike path spur went into construction last year and connected with the Worcester Blackstone Visitor Center, currently in design. Between Crompton Park and Union Station, another stretch of the bike path is in design and is expected to be on-road facility, where the users will be separated from roadway traffic.
In Rhode Island, collaboration between the Departments of Transportation and Environmental Management has resulted in 11.5 miles of continuous off-road bike path being open to the public in Cumberland, Lincoln and Woonsocket, and several miles of on-road path in Providence and Pawtucket. In total, nearly 16 miles of bike path have been completed along the Blackstone River Greenway, and the remaining eight miles are in design.