Road Watch for June 1
(Maybe PennDOT should inspect its bridges once a year – not every two years.)
Gov. Edward G. Rendell has asked the honchos in Harrisburg to add $200 million more a year for 10 years to the $1 billion-plus already earmarked for repairs of “structurally deficient” state bridges – including six in the county.
Pennsylvania has the distinction – or notoriety – of leading the nation with such bridges, nearly 6,000. Rendell recently urged lawmakers to use funding from bonds which would be repaid from bridge funds now collected into the Motor License Fund that already collects more than $3 billion a year in fuel taxes and vehicle registration/driver’s license fees.
Federal and other state funds also will pay for the total cost of fixing 1,145 bridges over the next three years.
Most motorists don’t even think about our bridges until one suddenly closes for necessary repairs – causing traffic delays – Rendell said. Doubling your miles for your daily commute in these days of $4-plus a gallon gas also creates an economic hardship.
In April, PennDOT was forced to close the Route 53 Irvona Bridge in Clearfield County for one week -- which carries about 4,400 vehicles a day – creating a 25-mile detour. Emergency repairs allowed one lane to be reopened after the first week; the other lane was opened later.
In March, a three-mile stretch of I-95 in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia – which handles 180,000 vehicles a day – was closed on a Monday night because of a lengthy crack in a 15-foot high support column fortunately noticed by an alert engineer after a lunch break in his car. Averted was a major bridge collapse, like that on I-35 West in Minneapolis, Minn., at evening rush hour last August which took 13 lives. Cars and occupants were plunged into the Mississippi River.
The section of busy I-95, built in the 1960s, was already scheduled to be part of a nearly $2 billion project later this year. Posing an immediate danger of motorists and residents, PennDOT crews worked around the clock to install additional supports. To their credit, the highway was reopened in three days.
The I-95 incident followed the seven-inch buckling of the Birmingham Bridge in Pittsburgh on Feb. 8, causing the closing of state Route 2085.
Not on Rendell’s recent high-priority list of bridges needing repair was the U.S. Route 322 bridge built in 1949 that spans the CSX Railroad tracks and unmarked Bethel Road exit, although PennDOT has rated its substructure below the bridge as Condition 3 or serious condition. Its sufficiency rating was 17 based on a scale from 0 to 100, with 0 being the worst and 100 being best.
Last August, PennDOT reported repairs would be made then to cracks and spalling in the concrete abutment and columns supporting the bridge beams underneath. However, officials said the bridge beams were not structurally deficient.
Repairs to the substructure concrete supports, a back wall and abutment, and expansion joints will be made in mid to late June this year, a PennDOT spokesman said Friday.
When asked about the large percentage of heavy tractor-trailers that use the Conchester Highway, officials said no weight limit was required last summer. The bridge over two sets of railroad tracks handles 36,000 vehicles daily.
Each state-owned bridge is inspected every two years by law, and more often, based on the condition of a bridge. The term “structurally deficient” is used when a component of a bridge is deteriorating, such as the beams or concrete decks, but it doesn’t mean a bridge is unsafe, PennDOT says.
Among the six state bridges in the county slated for replacement, the deteriorating Market Street (Route 452) Bridge over Amtrak/SEPTA lines in Marcus Hook and Lower Chichester has been cited for replacement for over a decade.
Finally, PennDOT recently said construction is expected to begin next summer and completed by December 2010. The cost of such progress will cause a great inconvenience to businesses and residents, but ultimately the safety of those traversing the bridge will be assured.
Maybe we need to inspect deficient bridges at least once a year and hire more inspectors such as structural engineer Peter Kim of Horsham and his colleague Tony Jen who took their job seriously even on their lunch break under I-95 in Philly.
(Note: Read Monday’s Daily Times for an in-depth article on six state bridges in Delco.)
WHITMAN BRIDGE
The Delaware River Port Authority has awarded a $9.7 million contract to remove the existing lead-based paint and apply a new high-performance coating system to the nine deck trusses of the New Jersey approaches to the Walt Whitman Bridge.
This project should begin in mid to late summer and will take about 15 months to complete, says DRPA Chief Engineer William Brooks.
In addition, the DRPA has awarded a $968,306 contract to Urban Engineers of Philadelphia to monitor the project.
The project is virtually identical to what’s taking place now on the Philadelphia side of the Ben Franklin Bridge, says DRPA CEO John Matheussen.
As an assessment of the Walt Whitman Bridge shows “early signs of deterioration of the steel structure and this project will provide the proper level of corrosion protection to extend the life of the structure,” Brooks said.
This is the second phase of the steel painting project on the bridge. The first phase involved the approaches on the Pennsylvania side of the river. Another future phase will include the bridge span itself.
Traffic Delays
Darby Township – Hook Road, patching between Primos and Clifton avenues 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday.
I-95 North/South – Tinicum, sign inspection with a lane closure between Route 420 and the Delaware County line 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Tuesday.
Kerlin Street – Upland/Chester, sidewalk repairs between Upland Road and I-95 on-ramp 7 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays.
Upland and Chester – Upland Avenue, paving between Route 352 (Edgmont Avenue) and 22nd Street, 6 p.m.-6 a.m. Monday-Tuesday.
Concord – U.S. 202 North, paving between Naamans Creek Road and Smithbridge Road, 6 p.m.-6 a.m. Monday-Tuesday.
Springfield Road – Clifton Heights, Upper Darby, Springfield and Marple, milling between Baltimore Avenue and State Road (Route 1) 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays.
Upper Darby – Burmont Road, paving between Garrett Road and State Road 6 p.m.-6 a.m. Thursday-Friday.
Haverford – Darby Road, road widening/utility installation, closed/detoured between Route 320 and Marple Road, Mondays-Saturdays through July 25. Detour posted. Work began May 27.
Springfield – Baltimore Pike, Aqua Pennsylvania utility installation between Route 320 (Sproul Road) and Paper Mill Road 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through June 30. Work began April 21.
Chester Township – Concord Road, utility installation between Commerce Drive and McDonald Boulevard 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through Wednesday. Work began Feb. 19.
Newtown – West Chester Pike East/West (Route 3), inlet repairs between Media Line Road and Route 252, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays.
Aston – Pennell Road (Route 452), trench restoration by Chester Water Authority between Glendale Boulevard and Jessica Way 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-June 18.
Upper Darby – Oak Avenue, patching between Providence Road and Riveley Avenue 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday.
Upper Chichester – U.S. Route 322 East (Conchester Highway), patching between Route 452 and I-95, Tuesday-Wednesday.
“Road Watch” appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.