Local News

MassDOT has started its foundation load testing program to help make way for the new bridge.

If you’ve spotted that giant crane looming beside the Sagamore Bridge, don’t get too excited. The construction on the new bridge hasn’t started yet. For now, it’s there to test whether the ground can handle the weight of the future span.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation began the foundation load testing program on May 1, and it will continue intermittently during daytime hours on weekdays for two to three months. 

The work includes drilling shafts and driving piles into the ground to gather data to support the foundation design of the future $2 billion Sagamore Bridge. 

The load testing is taking place at four locations near the current Sagamore Bridge: two north of the Cape Cod Canal and two south of the canal. Testing at the south of the Samagore Bridge is starting first, in the area of the former Christmas Tree Shops location. 

Residents and travelers may hear loud banging sounds from pile driving. The noise won’t be constant, MassDOT said, as it is coming from the hammering of the ground to create 90-foot-deep shafts into the earth. But once the shaft is complete, the hammering noises end. 

MassDOT is leading the Cape Cod Bridges Project, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration, to replace the federally owned 90-year-old Sagamore and Bourne bridges. 

The new Sagamore Bridge will sit west, or on the inboard side, of the existing structure. The new bridge will consist of two separate side-by-side spans.

The two bridges are the only roadway connections between the Cape and the mainland. 

MassDOT said the project is gearing up for a construction start date for the Sagamore Bridge in late 2027. 

The foundation load testing will not impact traffic. 

Bourne Bridge

Meanwhile, over at the Bourne Bridge, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting maintenance work that began at the end of April and will continue until May 20, affecting traffic. 

Vehicle travel over the bridge was reduced to one lane in each direction beginning on April 27. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warns motorists to expect travel delays.

The bridge work includes replacing pavement, repairing steel joints damaged by snow plowing over the winter, and maintaining the roadway lights and drains.