Norwich ― More than two years after the busy Sherman Street bridge closed for a $10 million replacement project, it quietly reopened Friday after city crews removed the last barriers.

Replacement of the two bridge spans over the Yantic River and an adjacent narrow former mill canal closed the key Sherman Street intersection with Asylum Street, forcing long detours for residents west of the bridge to reach Backus Hospital, Norwich Free Academy and various medical offices and businesses east of the bridge.

The work also closed the Sherman Street entrance to the Upper Falls Heritage Park along the Yantic River.

The project replaced the 1955 bridge spans with new wider bridge spans. The main bridge over the river is 18 inches higher for flood prevention, and utilities are better protected beneath the bridge, rather than suspended from the bridge and exposed to rushing waters.

The higher bridge meant that a portion of Asylum Street approaching the Sherman Street intersection needed to be raised 18 inches as well to meet the new bridge height.

c.bessette@theday.com