Construction work on the new Ledyard Bridge has fallen slightly behind schedule, and the looming winter weather is causing increased traffic delays on the bridge.
"They are working long hours right now, trying to get as much of the utility work done as possible before the winter weather sets in," Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said. Winter weather will make such work impossible.
The utility work is a significant contributor to the traffic backup.
"We've seen increased traffic delays ... those should be behind us once we get into the heavier winter weather," Griffin said. "Until then, we'll continue to see long hours spent on the utility work."
Griffin said the Town works closely with the construction crew and provides the necessary police assistance for traffic control.
The project is not maintaining its original schedule for completion, Griffin said.
"As of earlier in the summer, they had completed about 3 percent of their project and 14 percent of the time had elapsed," Griffin said. "They're scrambling to catch up."
She said the project is behind schedule because the construction crews experienced "staging delays" at the beginning of the summer.
"That staging is very, very complex -- that took some additional time," Griffin said.
Griffin said getting the proper cranes and other equipment in place was a difficult task.
Construction work is currently focused on drilling into the riverbed to install underwater piers which will eventually support the bridge, Griffin said.
She said she is not sure whether the project will meet its intended budget of $12.3 million.
"We're not close enough to the project to be looking at the budget in detail," she said.
Griffin said the height of the new bridge and the construction work required to drill into the river bed determined the two-year time horizon.
When the bridge is wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic, the traffic will be directed to the new bridge while the old bridge is disassembled. The new bridge, when completed, will accommodate two lanes of traffic, sidewalks, overlooks, bicycle lanes and a median for completion.
After much debate and compromise, the completed bridge will be 62-feet-wide.
The original proposal called for a 68-foot bridge. But local Vermont and New Hampshire residents challenged the proposal because they wanted the bridge to be no wider than 55 feet.
A compromise of 62 feet was reached, but Vermont Governor Howard Dean pushed for a smaller, 59-foot and 10-inch bridge. But he later relented, and plans went ahead for the 62-foot bridge.
Leon Kenison, assistant commissioner for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation previously told The Dartmouth that while the current bridge is still safe to drive on, it is slowly deteriorating.
