Norwich — Two months behind the anticipated April 1 start of the Sherman Street bridge reconstruction, the city has awarded the $10.3 million contract for the work to Plainville-based Manafort Bros. Inc.

The long-planned project now is expected to begin in June, but the bridge will not completely be closed to traffic until after the school year ends for Norwich Public Schools on June 22, city Public Works Director Patrick McLaughlin said.

The city awarded the contract to Manafort on Friday. The company was the low bidder at $10,319,393, about $200,000 below the second-lowest bidder, McLaughlin said. Bids were received in January, and McLaughlin said it took longer than expected. Manafort still must post a performance bond and sign the contract, expected within about a week, McLaughlin said.

A meeting to set the construction timeline will be scheduled for early June. City emergency responders and school officials will be invited to learn the timing of the closure of a major connector between the Asylum Street/New London Turnpike areas and the Backus Hospital and Norwich Free Academy area.

The project will replace the two bridges on Sherman Street over the Yantic River: the main bridge, built in 1955, and a smaller bridge over an adjacent canal. The larger bridge is rated in poor condition by the state Department of Transportation, with the substructure labeled as satisfactory. The smaller bridge, built in 1920 and reconstructed in 1964, is rated even lower at “serious” condition with a substructure in poor condition.

The sidewalk and asphalt are crumbling, and pipe railings rusted. One section of a chain-link fence between the two bridges is missing.

The $10 million project, paid for with 80% federal funds, 10% state funds and 10% city money, could cause traffic headaches for everyone from city residents to ambulance and school bus drivers and students walking to NFA from Asylum Street and nearby neighborhoods.

Construction is slated to begin with utility work on the Asylum Street side of the bridge before the span is completely closed to traffic for the majority of two construction seasons, in 2022 and 2023. During the winter of 2022-23, the bridge will be reopened as construction shuts down, but it will be closed again in spring of 2023 until completed.

During construction, the vehicular entrance to the Upper Falls Heritage Park, on Sherman Street just past the bridge, will be closed. The park will remain open to pedestrians through a stairway access a bit farther up Sherman Street.

The project calls for replacing the two spans with one “clear span,” which will be raised up 18 inches to avoid potential damage by the flood-prone Yantic River. Asylum Street in the vicinity of the bridge also will be raised 18 inches. The bridge will be shifted 20 feet to the north, toward New London Turnpike, to straighten out the intersection. A new three-way stop sign equipped with flashing lights, erected in July 2020 to improve traffic flow on Sherman Street, will remain after the construction.

A large sewage pipe suspended from the bridge, exposed to the weather and potential damage from flood-borne debris rushing beneath, will be incorporated into the new bridge. Norwich Public Utilities will construct a pump station on the Asylum Street side of the river as part of the project.

The Sherman Street bridge is a major crossing point over the Yantic River, and detours will take drivers miles away along New London Turnpike to Norwichtown or West Main Street into downtown.

The Norwich Fire Department already is well experienced with the detours, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Tracy Montoya said. In October 2015, the city reduced the weight limit on the bridge due to its deteriorating condition.

“We don’t typically send fire apparatus over that bridge, because of the weight limit,” Montoya said.

Montoya is concerned that the bridge closure and construction could cause traffic backups on Asylum Street that could delay emergency vehicles longer.

c.bessette@theday.com