After the abrupt halt of work last fall on the multi-million dollar and multi-year construction project for the Massachusetts Highway 24/140 interchange in Taunton, crews were back on the site last winter with a new contractor.
Manafort Brothers Inc., with offices in Worcester, Mass., and Cumberland, R.I., took over the project on Jan. 5 after the original contractor walked off the job, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) spokesperson John Goggin.
Manafort provides specialty construction and demolition services as well as general contracting services primarily in the northeastern United States. The firm is a prequalified MassDOT contractor, Goggin added, meaning no vetting is needed as it has done work for the state agency before.
With crews working again at the interchange southeast of downtown Taunton, the project includes:
- Construction of a new Mass. 24 southbound ramp to northbound Mass. 140 northbound.
- Widening Mass. 24 to three travel lanes on both sides, plus acceleration and deceleration lanes at interchange ramps.
- Replacing several bridges, including the Mass. 24 span across Mass. 140, in addition to a pair of bridges on Mass. 24 above several railroad tracks to be used as train lines for South Coast Rail.
- Reconstructing the interchange ramps between the two highways, including two lane entrance ramps from Mass. 140.
- Building a bypass lane on southbound Mass. 140, between the Mass. 24 north and south ramps.
- Widening Mass. 140 for additional turning lanes and a bypass lane.
- Drainage work, including an extension of the culvert on the Cotley River.
When asked by the Taunton news source, Goggin did not specify how much of this work had already been completed by the former contractor.
The construction is currently listed as 20 percent complete, according to MassDOT's listing of highway division projects.
After previously estimated to be finished by summer 2027, last year's delays have pushed the new completion date to the fall of 2027, Goggin told the Gazette.
Manafort Brings Impressive Track Record to Taunton
Last November, Goggin told the Gazette that whoever was the replacement contractor would be doing it under the original terms and agreed upon costs of the project. The previous builder had initially won the construction bid in late 2020 for $116.5 million.
The current $139.2 total project price tag includes a contingency fund, construction engineering and traffic police details.
The original builder on the Mass. 24/140 interchange started work at the site in May 2021 before officially suspended operations in October 2023. It had been dealing with financial troubles and went out of business at the end of the year, according to the Providence Journal.
Manafort's portfolio of work in the two New England states has included rehabilitation and demolition of at-grade railroad crossings associated with South Coast Rail, structural concrete work for New Bedford's Marine Commerce Terminal, foundation and concrete work for a residence hall at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, all the concrete and steel work for Worcester's Polar Park, massive renovation work for St. Mary's Hall at Boston College, and civil engineering, utility and excavation work associated with new office, housing. and retail buildings in Somerville's Union Square.
Additionally, Manafort is the main contractor for the 1,295-ft.-long Providence Viaduct Bridge project on Interstate 95 in Rhode Island.
