Roosevelt Circle Overpass, I-93 South in Medford, MA. Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Repairs to the heavily damaged overpass on I-93 South in Medford are now expected to take a lot longer and cost a lot more than initially expected.
At a hearing of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors on Monday, State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said the inside beam of the Roosevelt Circle Overpass was completely flattened when an over-height truck slammed into it earlier this month.
"The amount of work that went into getting the bridge reopened is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood we expect of several hundred thousand of dollars -- probably approaching half a million, maybe even a little bit more," he said. "The longer term repair will of course be less than that, but our experience is that you're still talking in the $1 million range, roughly."
Gulliver added that the completed repairs are also going expected to take longer than the initial estimate of six to eight months.
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"The next steps on this is that we will be designing a permanent repair that will expand the bridge back to it's former capacity -- and this is going to take some time," he said. "Probably in the neighborhood of eight to twelve months before we get that permanent repair designed and into construction."
According to MassDOT, the state will not be covering the costs of the repairs. Instead, they are working with insurance and bonding companies to recover any used funds.
"This was a very difficult bridge strike, again I'm extremely proud of the way that our staff managed the situation," Gulliver said. "It was a 24/7 response in order to get this done."
The driver of the truck that crashed into the bridge will be held legally and financially responsible -- and has been fined over $200.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasWBZ) reports.
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