Moses Wheeler Bridge carries Interstate 95 (Connecticut Turnpike) over the Housatonic River between Stratford and the Devon section of Milford.

The current bridge is a 14-span continuous girder and floorbeam structure that carries three (expandable to four) lanes of traffic in each direction, with full inside and outside shoulders.

The original bridge was a 34-span plate girder structure with a concrete deck with three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction and no shoulders.

Heavy traffic and harsh New England weather had taken their toll on the original Moses Wheeler Bridge.

It had been rated as 'structurally deficient' during recent inspections, with accelerating deterioration of the structural steel and the fracture critical pin and hanger assemblies being of particular concern; the latter problem gained increased attention due to the collapse of the similar-in-design Mianus River Bridge further west in Greenwich in 1983.

[2] Environmental studies for the new bridge were completed in 2005, and CONNDOT awarded a $60 million contract to Torrington, Connecticut-based O&G Industries for the initial phase of work in July 2009.

The $166.5 million contract to build the remainder of the new bridge and demolish the existing span was awarded to a joint venture between Chicago, Illinois-based Walsh Construction Company and Denver, Colorado-based PCL Constructors (also referred to in contract documents as Walsh/PCL Joint Venture II) in August 2011.