Construction Institute Boston Chapter

Construction activity in the Greater Boston Area has continued to flourish over the past year. Many major projects are moving forward, perhaps most notably with the first branch of the Green Line Extension opening to the public this month. It is an exciting time to be in the construction world here in Boston, and the Boston Chapter of the Construction Institute has been paying close attention to what’s happening.

CI Boston Chapter prefers to host our events in-person and out on site, but COVID-19 has made that challenging. In early October, we were able to get out to the newly rehabilitated Chelsea Viaduct, where members of the design, construction, and public outreach teams discussed the numerous challenges the project faced. Completion of the rehab work equated to replacement of 15% of the structurally deficient bridge decks in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The walking tour took us around and underneath the completed viaduct, which included 313 prefabricated bridge units. It took the team only 24 months to build this 76 span project. Thanks to all who were able to attend, and a special thanks to Andrew Giocondi of Skanska who made the event happen. Click here to read this newsletter's featured article about the rehabilitation of the viaduct!

As the weather gets warmer and COVID numbers continue to drop, we have a number of events in the works that we are looking forward to. In April we are planning on hosting a tour of the Winthrop Square Tower, also known as the Winthrop Center. At 53 stories, this will be one of Boston’s tallest towers, and also one of the city’s most energy efficient. Once completed, the Winthrop Center will be one of, if not the largest, Passive House-certified office buildings in the world according to the Boston Business Journal. Make sure you don’t miss this site tour!

We are also very excited that, after a four-year hiatus, we plan on hosting our biennial CI Summit Day in the late fall. If you have not attended before, CI Day is a full-day seminar with a series of technical sessions separated by networking breaks and exhibitor interaction. Each technical session has historically included thematically grouped presentations, including a mix of project case studies, technical review, legal issues in construction, technology and innovative planning and construction techniques, and specific construction projects and detailed challenges. It’s a must-attend event for anyone in the construction industry.

We have a number of other events that we hope to host between now and the fall, so stay tuned. If you have any interest in joining the Boston Chapter of the Construction Institute, or if you have any ideas for future events or meeting topics, please contact me at Betsy.Kirtland@Stantec.com.