Looking east along the approach road to the bridge. Newsday photos
By Tim Healy
tim.healy@newsday.com
Huntington officials hope to see repair of the Mill Dam Causeway begin by the middle of November.
Highway Superintendent William Naughton said engineers from his department met last week with representatives of R.B. Conway and Sons, a Bay Shore marine construction company that was given a $1.6-million contract last month to repair the town approaches to the bridge.
The approach roads and bridge, which cross Mill Pond between the Little Neck peninsula and Huntington Beach, were closed to vehicles almost two months ago when the approach road was deemed unsafe. Naughton explained that the bridge itself, which is owned by the county and is about 3 years old, is in good shape but the town-owned approaches were failing.
He said he hoped the work would be completed by the spring of 2008, but he added that there were no guarantees because of the weather.
Richard Conway, from the construction company, agreed. “We’re racing the weather actually, that’s the key thing right now,” he said. “We’re going to try to get the steel bulkhead in as soon as possible, so that we can possibly pour the concrete before it gets too cold.”
Concrete will be used to fill the space between the new bulkheads, which will be set farther apart than the existing ones. A new road will be put down over the concrete.
Naughton said it would be necessary to close the road to pedestrians at some point during the construction.