Moses Wheeler Bridge, Milford, Connecticut

Carrying I-95 over the Housatonic River in Milford, CT, the Moses Wheeler Bridge was opened for use in January 1958.  The original structure was a 34-span plate girder structure with a concrete deck that supported three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction and no shoulders.  After decades of the harsh New England weather, the bridge was deemed structurally deficient, which would ultimately lead to Sessler Wrecking performing precision demolition and excavation services to make way for the newly erected structure.

Our team of bridge demolition specialists began by hammering the reinforced concrete substructure and then performed underwater concrete removal in depths of over 23 feet.  Because of the unique challenge of this job, Sessler utilized precision GPS guided demolition over 5,000 CY of the substructure—bringing the total removal to 10,000 CY for the entire project.

Since the new structure was erected above the demolition site, the remaining piers that needed to be removed were in close proximity to one another, which restricted our team to a limited area to hammer and remove them without damaging the new structure. Our team efficiently and safely removed the reinforced substructure and large piers, and transported all the materials to an approved, off-site facility to be recycled.