Low temps freeze construction equipment and materials beneath Vermont bridge, delay concrete pours for Cincinnati streetcar

Construction equipment frozen below a bridge undergoing repairs on I-91 in Brattleboro, Vermont. Credit: Chris Mays/Brattleboro Reformer

Count these two crews in Vermont and Cincinnati among those in the construction  industrystymied by the freezing temperatures of the Polar Vortex earlier this week.

In Brattleboro, Vermont, a crew with PCL Civil Constructors Inc. found a crane, an aerial lift and a load of materials for a bridge repair on Interstate 91 frozen in the water below. The mishap was caused by the extremely low temperatures and an unexpected rise in the water level, according to a report from the Brattleboro Reformer.

The crew will simply have to wait for the water to recede before work can continue and they have reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers to establish a timetable as to when that will happen.

In Cincinnati, a crew installed a heating system to ensure concrete pours could take place as part of construction on the city’s new streetcar line, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

The King Heat system wasn’t enough to keep trackbeds warm for concrete pours on Cincinnati’s streetcar this week.

The Heat King system uses tubes carrying heated antifreeze to keep the trackbed warm overnight.

And after the pour, the tubes are placed over the concrete to ensure that it cures properly.

But the assistant to the city manager told the Cincinnati Business Courier that the system apparently would not have been enough and that those pours were pushed back until next week due to the extremely low temperatures.