Mascaro Construction, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is barreling ahead on an ambitious $55 million project to rebuild the Bradford Bypass section of Route 219 in north-central Pennsylvania.
“Last year, we experienced a lot of rain, which created wet conditions,” according to Hal Harmon, project manager of Mascaro. “This year, the weather has cooperated.”
Mascaro, and 26 subcontractors, have assembled an arsenal of heavy equipment to complete the massive Bradford Bypass project.
The bypass project involves reconstructing a 3.3 mi. (5.3) km section of four-lane, divided highway towering above the streets of Bradford, Pa. The bypass reconstruction also involves demolishing and building six new dual bridges. When the project is completed next year, the new four-lane divided highway will feature new pavement consisting of Superpave asphalt.
Brian Brosius, project manager of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), said the following work on the Bradford Bypass is moving ahead:
• Subcontractor Bob Cummins Construction, of Bradford, Pa., is demolishing the old Mill Street Bridge. This is the last of the old bridges to be demolished.
• Subcontractor Herbert F. Darling, of Williamsville, N.Y., is wrapping up pile-driving operations to create support for the six, new dual bridges. Darling drove piles into 180 ft. (54.9 m) of sandy soil to support the Elm Street structures. The piles on the remaining structures were driven between 20 and 50 ft. (6.09 and 15.24 m).
• Mascaro is placing concrete on the deck of the Elm Street Bridge, as footers are being poured on the bridges over Main Street and Forman Street.
• A Mascaro crew is removing the old roadway on the northbound side, while another replaces subbase. Mascaro is running a Caterpillar D6R with Topcon GPS grading system, Kobelco 480 backhoe, and a variety of heavy dump trucks to haul waste material. Other excavating equipment includes two Caterpillar D4s, a D5 with foldable blade, and two D6s.
• Subcontractor Turjan Construction, of Johnstown, Pa., is installing new drainage pipe on the project, while Sanders Construction, of Mt. Holly Springs, Pa., is installing inlets.
• A Mascaro crew is stabilizing a one-to-one slope on the project using geosynthetic reinforced material.
• Subcontractor IA Construction is paving the new northbound lanes with Superpave asphalt. Paving on the southbound side of the four-lane divided highway was completed in July. The company is using a Cat AP-1055B paver, two Cat CB534D rollers, a Cat rubber-tired roller for the wearing course only, and a Roadtec SB-2500 material transfer vehicle for the binder and wearing course.
In all, Brosius said six dual bridges on the project are being replaced with larger, more modern structures.
The new Bradford bridges with include:
• a single-span, 95-ft. (29 m) bridge over Elm Street in Bradford;
• a single-span, 105-ft. (32 m) bridge over Main Street;
• a four-span, 390 ft. (119 m) steel girder bridge over Forman Street;
• a four-span, 595 ft. (181 m) steel girder bridge over Mill Street;
• a single-span, 120-ft. (37 m) prestressed concrete I-beam bridge over Kendall Avenue; and
• a single-span, 60 ft. (18 m) prestressed concrete I-beam spread box beam bridge over Bolivar Run.
Brosius said the piling for the old bridges has generally remained in place, though some of it had to be extracted to create support for the new bridges. In all, Brosius said a total of 37,000 ft. (11,278 m) of piling will be driven on the job. Also, he said the project will use a total of 2 million lbs. (907,185 kg) of reinforcing bar and 3.5 million lbs. (1.5 million kg) of fabricated structural steel.
Brosius said the traveling public seems to be attuned to the changing traffic patterns that go along with the highway improvement. Brosius is updating the media on a weekly basis with traffic advisories.
Brosius said DMJM Harris, of Pittsburgh, Pa., provided the design of the Route 219 Bradford Bypass project. CEG
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