PennDOT plans traffic stoppages on Tarentum Bridge
Brief traffic stoppages will occur Wednesday on the Tarentum Bridge as crews perform work there, PennDOT announced Monday.
Stoppages of 15 minutes or less will happen as needed in each direction between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
During the stoppages, crews will perform jacking operations on the bridge, requiring traffic be stopped between Caldwell Avenue in New Kensington and East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum.
A PennDOT spokeswoman said that when crews perform jacking operations, they are slightly lifting the bridge. When sections of the bridge are lifted, they are removing and replacing the old anchoring system — the pedestals that the bridge beams sit on.
About 30,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily, according to PennDOT.
Stoppages will be happening on the bridge one day each week through mid-May, according to PennDOT. A full schedule was not available.
A $3.24 million rehabilitation project on the bridge includes a new overlay, steel repairs, bearing and expansion dam replacement, concrete substructure repairs and painting.
As part of the project, PennDOT said the bridge will be closed and all traffic detoured for 16 days in the summer. The project is expected to be finished in the fall.
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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