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C O M M I S S I O N N E W S R E L E A S E |
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Contact:
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Joe Agnello |
November 1, 2005 |
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will host an open house from 5 to 8 pm Thursday, November 3 at the Harmar Township Municipal Building to show current plans for the pending replacement of its third-longest bridge, crossing the Allegheny River 14 miles northeast of Pittsburgh between Harmar Township and Plum Borough in Allegheny County. Final design is continuing for the project, which will include a total reconstruction and widening (from two to three lanes each direction) of two miles of Interstate 76 between the Pa. Route 28 spans over the Turnpike in the west and the Hulton Road Bridge over the Turnpike at the eastern end of the project limits. The project also will involve reconstruction of the approaches to the Allegheny Valley interchange at Milepost 47.7, construction of several retaining walls, Oakmont Country Club’s replacement of its older pedestrian/cart path bridge over I-76 and replacement of the aforementioned Hulton Road Bridge as well as of the Gulf Lab Road Bridge over I-76 on the west side of the river. Work on a new Hulton Road Bridge at Milepost 48.8 is underway and should be completed by Thanksgiving 2006. Replacement of Hulton Road Bridge is a $4.8 million project contracted to Beech Construction, Inc. of Carnegie. Interested citizens are invited to visit anytime between 5 and 8 pm Thursday to see plans for the new alignment of the Turnpike, the location of noise study areas and the preliminary schedule for the various phases of construction. The Harmar Township Municipal Building is located at 701 Freeport Road, just off the Allegheny Valley interchange toward Cheswick. Representatives of the Turnpike Commission and its design consultant (Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc.) will be available to explain details of the project and answer questions. The Turnpike Commission will be acquiring additional right-of-way, primarily slivers of properties from entities such as Oakmont Country Club. Current estimates are for three residential displacements, all within Denny Estates in Harmar Township. The Turnpike’s existing crossing of the Allegheny River is an underslung steel truss bridge, approximately 2,180 feet long and up to 120 feet high, which opened in December 1951 with the Turnpike’s western extension from Irwin to the Ohio border. New twin structures 2,350 feet long are being designed on an adjacent parallel alignment slightly downstream from the existing span. They will be built as cast-in-place concrete box girders using a balanced cantilever method. Each will accommodate three lanes of traffic. Construction will begin after the 2007 U.S. Open and conclude before the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open, both to be held at Oakmont Country Club. |
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P.O.
Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676 Phone: (717) 939-9551 Fax: (717) 986-9649 |
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