Yulee Aronson is a licensed professional engineer, with 40 years of construction management and project controls experience, overseeing many high-profile and complex projects. He says, “I have never encountered a construction problem that couldn’t be overcome.”
Locally, Aronson has worked on the earlier renovation of the Cribari Bridge; the new Staples High School, and the chlorination building at the wastewater pollution facility. Other projects include Penn Station access, the reconstruction of La Guardia Airport, and the Baltimore Potomac Tunnel replacement. He writes:
I’d like to begin by the thanking the Representative Town Meeting for Tuesday’s Zoom meeting, and having an open and respectful discussion regarding the upcoming Connecticut Department of Transportation project that will affect most of us living in Westport for many years to come.
Also, I thank 1st Selectman Kevin Christie and State Representative Jonathan Steinberg for participating, and sharing their thoughts.
Over the course of my career I’ve been involved in many bridge rehabilitation and replacement projects.
Yulee Aronson
The Bridge Street Bridge, as it was called then, was my first. I wasn’t involved in the beginning phase, when a temporary bridge was built and the existing bridge was replaced.
I was involved in the second phase: raising the newly constructed bridge, and removing the temporary one.
For context and in response to some of the comments Tuesday night: The original bridge wasn’t built lower before it was raised, as some may remember thinking at the time.
It certainly felt that way if you traveled under it in a kayak.
The reason is a difference in the structural design. The original historic bridge was supported by floor beams resting on trusses. The floor beams ran north/south, and kayakers could travel between them during high tide.
When the bridge was replaced, the trusses no longer served any practical purpose. They were installed as a decorative feature, to preserve the historic look of the bridge.
Instead, deep girders were installed in an east/west direction, denying kayakers access during high tide.
Westporters complained and protested, calling for bridge openings 10 times a day until the state agreed to raise the structure. Now here we are again.
I evaluated proposals by the state as they relate to the proposed bridge elevations. They are:
It appears that the state proposes to elevate the bridge 10 feet, to keep the machinery above the 100-year flood elevation, either on alignment or offset.
What “on alignment” means
The distance between the intersection with Riverside Ave and the west abutment is 45 feet+/-. Even if the grade was flat (and it is not), to go up 10 feet in 45 feet, you’d need 22% slope. So, elevating the bridge “on alignment” is not a real option.
Elevating the bridge off alignment may look like the old temporary bridge.
Temporary bridge (left), during early 1990s renovation of what was then called the Bridge Street Bridge.
If the new bridge follows similar alignment, why does it need to be movable?
Forty years ago, the bridge was replaced in open position. So for several years marine traffic passed under the temporary bridge. Regulators, including the Coast Guard, permitted this.
I was not involved in the permitting process, and I don’t recall the height of the temporary bridge, but it wasn’t nearly as tall as the one carrying I-95 traffic.
There are issues with this option as well. Is there availability of land to build the bridge as shown in the photo? And how do we address impacts to wetlands on the northeast side. There are other potential environmental challenges too.
Let’s keep our ideas flowing, Westport!
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Yulee Aronson is a licensed professional engineer, with 40 years of construction management and project controls experience, overseeing many high-profile and complex projects. He says, “I have never encountered a construction problem that couldn’t be overcome.” 
