PA Turnpike Celebrates Start of $101.6 Million Carbon County Bridge-Replacement Project
Turnpike Chief, State Lawmakers and other officials break ground for new I-476 bridges.
PARRYVILLE, PA. (APRIL 14, 2009) — Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chief Executive Officer
Joseph G. Brimmeier today joined state legislators and local civic and business leaders in breaking ground for a
$101.6 million project to replace two major bridges crossing the Lehigh River and Pohopoco Creek on the
Turnpike’s Northeastern Extension (I-476) in Carbon County.
In a ceremony held at the job site under the existing Turnpike bridges in Parryville, Brimmeier — along with State Sen. David Argall, Pennsylvania House Speaker Keith McCall and other local representatives — turned over a shovelful of earth for the foundation of one of the piers that will support a new span carrying the Turnpike over the Lehigh River and Lehigh Canal.
“Our investment here in Carbon County, at the gateway to the Poconos, provides an immediate economic
stimulus for Pennsylvania’s workers and suppliers,” Brimmeier said. “And in the long term, we are investing in
an improved infrastructure for those who use this major north-south artery for business and for pleasure travel,”
he said.
Under the four-year, toll-funded project, the Turnpike is replacing the original structures, which opened in
1957, with separate northbound and southbound bridges over the Lehigh River and the adjacent Pohopoco
Creek. The work zone is two miles north of the Turnpike’s Lehigh Tunnel, between mileposts 73 and 75, near
the Mahoning Valley Interchange (Exit 74). Slightly more than 30,000 vehicles, on average, travel over the
bridges each day — nearly 11 million cars and trucks in 2008.
The Lehigh River and Pohopoco Creek Project is part of the Turnpike’s self-funded, 10-Year Capital Improvement Plan that was developed to rebuild and modernize more than 545 miles of tolled highway under its jurisdiction; it also represents a Carbon County milestone.
“This is one of the most significant projects to occur in Carbon County in many years, and the commissioners are thankful to the Turnpike for investing in our county — both from a transportation-safety and an economic-development standpoint,” said Carbon County Commission Chairman William O’Gurek. “That level of investment represents a tremendous shot in the arm for our economy, spurring considerable spending by workers being here, living here and eating here, among other things.”
The new dual bridges over the Lehigh River – and the historic Lehigh Canal that parallels its eastern bank –
will be 1,530-feet long and rise 75 feet over the river and canal. The bridges over the Pohopoco Creek, located
north of the Lehigh River span, will be 1020-feet long and 120-feet high. The bridges are being constructed
immediately up-stream of the existing bridges.
Early construction will focus on foundations and supports for the new Pohopoco Creek bridges and excavation at the Turnpike’s shoulder to realign the approaches to the new bridges. Work is scheduled to begin in mid-summer on piers for the new Lehigh River spans.
Superstructures of both new bridges will be built of pre-stressed concrete beams with reinforced concrete decks 42-feet wide in each direction. They will include two 12-foot wide travel lanes, a six-foot wide inside shoulder and a 12-foot wide outside shoulder in each direction. Construction of the new bridges is expected to be completed in late 2011. At completion, Turnpike traffic will be shifted onto the new spans and demolition of the old bridges will get underway. All work on the project is scheduled to be completed in late 2012.
The existing Lehigh River crossing is a steel-plate girder design while the Pohopoco Bridge utilizes an under-deck truss design — both typical of bridges constructed in the late 1950s.
The Walsh Construction Group, of Pittsburgh, is general contractor. Urban Engineers, of Philadelphia, is construction manager for construction of the structures.