The full dollar amount of the project is $20 million. Funding includes 80 percent federal sources, 15 percent state of Pennsylvania sources, and 5 percent Allegheny County sources.
Rehabilitation work is currently being done on the only parallel cable suspension bridge within the state of Pennsylvania. The project involves the Philip Murray Bridge (South 10th Street) in Pittsburgh, and is under the direction of the Department of Public Works.
Work began on April 17, 2017, and physical work is expected to continue until Nov. 7, 2018. Maintenance of the dehumidification system will continue through Dec. 9, 2019.
The full dollar amount of the project is $20 million. Funding includes 80 percent federal sources, 15 percent state of Pennsylvania sources, and 5 percent Allegheny County sources.
The contract for the project was awarded to American Bridge Company of Coraopolis, Pa., under project manager Katherine Quillin.
Work calls for concrete and steel bridge repairs, full bridge painting, a new bituminous wearing course, and installation of a new main suspension cable dehumidification system.
The contract is for Phase 2 of the bridge rehabilitation, with work that began in June. This phase of the project includes replacement of bridge deck, painting, structural steel repairs, wrapping of the suspension cables, and the installation of dehumidification system.
Stage 1A, involved the following restrictions: traffic on the bridge was reduced to one lane in each direction; the inbound, or east sidewalk, was closed; the turning lanes on Second Avenue were restricted; trucks/buses traveling inbound on Second Avenue were unable to make a left turn onto the bridge, and trucks/buses traveling inbound on the bridge could not make a right onto Second Avenue. In both cases, traffic had to be detoured using the Armstrong Tunnel.
Stage 2 will begin in 2018, which will close the bridge to all vehicles traveling outbound and the downstream sidewalk.
Phase 1 was completed in 2014 and included the replacement of both sidewalks and new lighting.
Stephen G. Shanley P.E., director of Allegheny County Department of Public Works, noted that work included demolition of the roadway surface above the north vault, continued work on the South Vault to install a rubble/debris platform, continued demolition of the handrail and sidewalk at the north vault, and continued excavation of the south approach ramp.
In addition, workers had removed the rail track on the 2nd Street approach, and began the demolition of the existing sidewalk and hand rail on the south end of the bridge. Demolition work also continued at the expansion areas.
According to Amie Downs, communications director of Allegheny County, the project proves challenging because the work is being done on a short suspension bridge that was originally built in the 1930s. Crews are installing the main cable dehumidification system for the first time. She also noted the difficulty of painting the superstructure over the Monongahela River.
Downs reported that the main subcontractor for the project is the bridge painting subcontractor, Avalotis Corporation.
Work also will involve replacing and waterproofing the anchorage vault roofs.
The Philip Murray Bridge was opened in 1933 and is 1,275 ft. in length. Originally called the South Tenth Street Bridge, or simply the Tenth Street Bridge, it was officially renamed the Philip Murray Bridge on Labor Day 2007. Philip Murray was the first president of the United Steelworkers of America. In 2015, it was one of three bridges to have bike lanes installed.
CEG
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
Read more from Brenda Ruggiero here.
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