SAKONNET AREA — Work on the new Sakonnet River Bridge is picking up on both shores and out in the river.

On the Portsmouth side, excavators are cutting into the rocky ledge at the northern end of the Hummocks to make way for the highway approach.

In Tiverton preparations have begun for the earthen berm that will carry the roadway to a point near the river’s edge.

And mid-river, a barge arrived over the weekend and set up just to the Tiverton side of the navigational channel. By Tuesday it had departed.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin said that barges will be taking up position in the river to begin the complex process of sinking holes for the massive pipe piles that will support the bridge over the river.

They will first be setting exploratory holes in the precise, “x marks the spot” locations where the pilings themselves will go. Although many test holes have already been dug during the two years leading up to the project’s start, these last test holes will be dug to “eliminate the chance of any surprises” such as a boulder that might be in the way.

“That and the actual start of piling work will continue through the summer, Mr. St. Martins said.

On the Portsmouth side, crews first cut down trees and then started digging away the Hummocks ledge from the side of the existing bridge — their work has already created a dramatic change to the landscape. They will dig down to a point that is about level with the present bridge.

With wider lanes plus a 13-foot walking and bicycle lane, the new bridge will be 96 feet wide, considerably broader than the existing 68-foot wide bridge. That makes this a tight squeeze between the existing bridge and a house that sits on the side of the ledge looking out toward the river.

That house will stay, Mr. St. Martin said.

“All of the houses that were in the way have already been purchased and moved or removed,” he said. To save it, excavators were doing delicate work to within feet of the structure.

All of the work here will be done “mechanically” with excavators, backhoes and bulldozers. “No explosives will be used here,” he said.

A cut has already been accomplished on the Tiverton side to make way for the new bridge’s more southern alignment. That job involved replacing and expanding the Tiverton Main Road overpass.

Also among the next jobs on the worklist is the dismantling the first exit on the Tiverton side (northbound) that was closed several weeks ago.

Mooring boundary ‘in flux’

On another front, the DOT and contractor Cardi Corporation have been meeting to determine the precise boundaries of the safety zone within which no boats will be allowed in the river, Mr. St. Martin said.

The Coast Guard recently announced that that safety zone will extend to a line 800 feet south of the existing bridge to make way for the considerable barge and tugboat traffic that will be arriving soon and staying for three years. Asked about moorings, a Coast Guard spokesman said that is an issue for the towns and state to work out.

That 800 feet is what the contractor wants, Mr. St. Martin said, but the state may have other ideas.

“The state is now in discussions with the contractor and we have not yet reached a decision on limits,” he said. “It is still in flux.”

Since boats will not be allowed within that safety zone, the decision will determine how many moorings must move. If they do settle on the 800-foot line, several dozen moorings would have to be relocated.

Some have already been moved, Portsmouth Harbormaster Jacob Silva said Tuesday.

“I’ve had a couple of complaints from people who said Cardi or somebody had picked up their moorings and moved them someplace else.”

He said he still has received no calls from the state, Cardi or the Coast Guard on the safety zone situation.

“It would be nice if they made an effort to contact us — thrown me a bone,” Mr. Silva said.

He said he intends to get out later this week, rain or shine, to try to figure out for himself what is going on with mooring movement.

“You can’t just pick them up and put them anyplace. It’s already crowded out there,” he added.