Construction Equipment Guide
470 Maryland Drive
Fort Washington, PA 19034
800-523-2200
Wed January 17, 2001 - Northeast Edition
For more than three decades, time and traffic have taken their toll on the pavements, bridges and overpasses of I-95 in Pennsylvania. As a result, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is investing more than $500 million in federal and state monies to improve one of the most heavily traveled highways in the nation.
As part of I-95 Project Revive program, a series of improvements are in full swing. The project entails the rebuilding of bridges, installation of Intelligent Transportation Systems equipment and upgrading interchanges. The major reason for the improvements is to enhance traffic flow, reduce congestion and extend the life of the highway.
The Bucks County portion of the project, estimated at $8 million, consists of patching the deteriorated concrete pavement and resurfacing the stretch of highway. Crews also will repair four bridges and upgrade guide rails. Currently, the interchanges affected are located between State Route 63 (Woodhaven Road) and State Route 413 (New Rodgers Road) in Bensalem, encompassing 5.5 mi. of roadway.
“We are addressing I-95’s poor pavement condition with a sensible, cost-effective rehabilitation and resurfacing project,” PennDOT’s District Administrator Andrew Warren stated. “The stretch of I-95 is deteriorating to the point where we must repair it now to avoid an enormously expensive, lengthy and disruptive reconstruction project, such as occurred on the Schuylkill Expressway in the 1980s.”
“The job is now in the clearing stage with a major aspect of it being tree removal,” said Dan Gomba, project engineer, PennDOT. “It requires clearing of 30 ft. of cartway on North and Southbound lanes. Over the past 30 years, trees have grown out of control infringing on the roadway surface.”
Gomba mentioned that the heavy equipment on site consists of a heavy-duty tree removal machine, which grabs the tree and cuts it 4 in. above the root base. The other large machine used is a chipper, which grinds the trees into chips once they are removed. After the clearing is complete, work will begin on painting the bridge above Route 13.
James D. Morrissey Inc. of Philadelphia is the general contractor on the project that is financed with 100 percent state funds. Other contractors include Bustleton Services (tree removal) and Nyleve (rehab of structures). The project is expected to be completed by November 2001.
Future Improvements
Shortly, PennDOT will start to replace the deteriorating Westmoreland Viaduct, a long (26 spans) structure that carries I-95 between Westmoreland and Tioga Streets. Also set to begin at that time is rehabilitation of the bridge over Levick Street, near the Tacony Palmyra Bridge. The two and a half year, $50-million construction project consists of replacing bridge decks, replacing deck support beams, reconstructing bridge piers, reconstructing the southbound ramp to Allegheny Avenue, and improving the signing between Girard Avenue and the Betsy Ross Bridge.
Rehabilitation of the Westmoreland Viaduct will continue into 2003. Levick Street Bridge repairs will be completed in late 2001.
Also early this year, PennDOT will start repainting the underside support beams on the Richmond Street Viaduct between Lehigh Avenue and Ann Street, expected to be finished in 2002.
Next spring, repairs will begin on the I-95 bridge over Allegheny Avenue. Repair of the concrete deck and replacement of the concrete approach slabs are expected to begin in the spring and be completed by summer’s end.