Public Workings #2 - Bridge & Road Striping

by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall
Note:  This is two stories in one post.  The second story starts just below the first one.

Florida Road Bridge Now Open!

Maynard, MA - Maynard residents on the Town's notification list received a surprise message Monday afternoon:  At noon, the Florida Road Bridge was finally open for traffic!
This was anticipated by many residents who have been monitoring work on the bridge over the last two years or so.  The the previous bridge, over 100 years old at the time, was demolished at the start of the project.
When I talked with Justin DeMarco, Director of Public Works last week, he was not sure when the bridge would be opened, but that's because the project was actually managed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Mass DOT), after the town transferred ownership of the bridge to that agency for the duration of the project.

Residents had this view of the bridge just before construction was completed.

The bridge is almost invisible to drivers, now that it's finished and open.

Having Mass DOT manage bridge construction is typical in Massachusetts.  For details, please see my previous story, Public Workings #1.  Plans are to have the ownership of the bridge transferred back to the Town of Maynard, but the official date and likely ceremony are not available at this time.

Maynard residents are now able to say "good riddance" to the many detour signs, no longer needed.

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Make way for Traffic Line Painting!

Maynard, MA - The Maynard Department of Public Works has announced that the center and side lines on most of the major roads in town will be repainted during an overnight operation this week.  The project will start this Wednesday, November 8th, at 9:00 PM and continue until the work is done the following morning, Thursday, November 9th.
The DPW and the Police Department are asking all town residents to refrain from parking on the designated streets and roads, and avoid driving or walking on the lines, while they remain marked off with traffic cones, until they are fully dry.

The roads involved include Great Road (Route 117), Parker Street (Route 27), Powder Mill Road (Route 62), Waltham Street, Summer Street, among others.
Further details and a complete list of the roads involved are on the DPW page of the town web site, here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/213/Public-Works-DPW
The Maynard Police Department has posted a map of the streets involved on their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MaynardPoliceDepartment
For those without a facebook account or people who wish to avoid using facebook, I've included a copy of the map here (see image at right --->).
In the map, DYCL means "Double Yellow Center LIne" and SWEL means "Single White Edge Line."  Many roads will need both.

The process, known in the construction industry as "Striping" or "Pavement Marking" will involve applying a special material to the pavement surface (not always "paint" as we know it).  In some cases, the lines may consist of heated thermoplastic, which then cools and hardens.  A layer of reflective material is typically applied on top (consisting of extremely small glass beads).
It's done this way so that the resulting stripes will reflect light at night for better visibility, while the paint or other material is designed expand and contract at the same ratio as the asphalt beneath.  This is necessary as the road surface will undergo extreme temperature changes, from the hottest days in the summer to well below freezing in the winter.   If this was not done, the lines might wear out prematurely, or even erode the asphalt beneath them.
To learn more about the process, here are some relevant links. The first is an animated story presentation, showing the workers and equipment used (in this case, in another state) for highway marking:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/26/arts/design/road-lines.html
The second one is more about the challenges of formulating the striping materials and the chemistry involved:
https://pubsapp.acs.org/cen/science/88/8836sci4.html
I have included this second link because I never want to underestimate the interests or capacity of readers for understanding the technology of today's world, and the nuances of the trade offs involved in creating it.  This relates to my firm belief in the benefit of lifelong learning.

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