SHENANDOAH — A public meeting was held Monday at Shenandoah Borough Hall to provide information and receive input and questions on the upcoming bridge replacement project on state Route 924 that will begin in February.
Representatives of the Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners, which has contracted with the state Department of Transportation to do bridge replacements and major repairs throughout the state, conducted the meeting. Walsh bridge project manager Abdoul Diallo and project engineer Nicholas W. Bruck spoke about the project. PennDOT District 5 bridge engineer Chris Kufro also attended the meeting.
PennDOT’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project will involve the replacement of the “South Shenandoah Bridge” on state Route 924 just south of Shenandoah. Locally, it is known as the “Gold Star Bridge.” The project will begin in early February and is expected to be completed by late October or early November.
The meeting had no members of the public in attendance. Borough council President Donald E. Segal attended the approximately one-hour meeting.
The Shenandoah bridge is part of the Public Private Partnership project recently awarded by PennDOT to the PWKP consortium. The state is taking advantage of the new P3 tool signed into law in 2012 to begin a new initiative to address the state’s roughly 4,000 structurally deficient bridges. With the P3 approach, hundreds of bridges can be replaced more quickly, save money and minimize the impact on the traveling public, according to www.parapidbridges.com.
PWKP will replace 558 aging Pennsylvania bridges in three years, completing construction by the end of 2017. The bridges are primarily crossings on smaller state highways, many in rural areas, rather than interstate bridges or large river crossings. The team’s proposal was selected based on scoring that considered cost, financial capability to carry out the project, background and experience in managing comparable projects, and understanding of the project.
The Route 924 bridge is one of six bridges in Schuylkill County that are in the rapid bridges project. It crosses the Kehley Run Creek and a former railroad bed. It is 214 feet long and was constructed in the 1950s. When completed, the bridge will be 203 feet long.
As project engineer, Bruck will be involved with the day-to-day operation in the bridge replacement.
“This is my first bridge on the joint venture and look forward to breaking ground on it,” Bruck said.
“We’re here to basically introduce you to the project and keep you informed overall on the projects statewide and specifically on Schuylkill County bridges, and specifically on JV-207, which is the bridge you have here,” Diallo said.
The Route 924 bridge project is designated JV-207, the “JV” meaning “Joint Venture.”
“We’re also building a relationship with the community,” Diallo said. “In order for this to succeed, the community has to support us and we need to reach out and address the concerns of the community.”
A short video was shown explaining the Rapid Bridge initiative and the Public Private Partnership, with PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards speaking on the extensive bridge work throughout the state and the 25-year guarantee on every bridge. The life expectancy on the bridges is 100 years. The entire three-year project on the 558 bridges will cost $899 million, which is the largest construction contract ever awarded by PennDOT.
The Shenandoah bridge project will begin on Feb. 8, which will include the closing of the southbound lane as part of Phase I. As the southbound side is demolished, the northbound lane will handle traffic in both directions. Traffic signals will be placed to control the traffic flow in both directions.
In order for people to become accustomed to the signals, they will be installed in time for Feb. 1 and will flash, but they will not control traffic until the project start one week later. Signs will be placed along Route 924 to alert drivers to the construction work and traffic restrictions.
The project will involve the replacement of the piers underneath the bridge, which will include drilling deep into the ground for the supports. Currently, there are three piers underneath the span, but the new construction will only need one pier in the center.
When Phase I is completed in June, the two southbound lanes will open for traffic, and Phase II with the demolition of the northbound lanes of the bridge will begin.
Diallo said the P3 projects also look to hire and obtain construction materials locally, so efforts are made to help the area economy as much as possible. Safety will also be addressed during construction to assure no injuries involving the public occur. He said there have been no incidents since the bridge initiative began.
The four-lane bridge was reduced to two lanes due to the structural issues, but it will be replaced with a four-lane structure again.
“It will be the same as now, but the sidewalks won’t be there. There will be wide shoulders,” Kufro said. “The reason why we took them out is because we don’t want the borough to have to maintain them. If we take the sidewalks out, PennDOT will plow the shoulders.”
“It should be done this year, October or early November,” Diallo said.
According to the website, the Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners consortium consists of both local and world class companies experienced in delivering major public infrastructure works. Plenary Group USA Ltd. and Walsh Investors LLC will provide financing and long-term management for the project, while the construction work will be led by a joint venture team of Walsh Construction Co. and Granite Construction Co. HDR Inc. will be the team’s lead designer and Walsh Infrastructure Management will provide bridge maintenance over the life of the 25-year contract. Eleven Pennsylvania based construction companies have already been subcontracted to do much of the work.
“It’s nice to see progress and the replacement of something that’s heavily used,” Segal said. “It will be a help to the community.”