Major Bridge Reconstruction to Begin This Spring

Eric S February 27, 2012 at 06:16 pm

Oh man what a mess of traffic this is going to make. But it's a necessary job I suppose. I've been under that bridge and it's worse that the surface, which isn't very good at all.

Nicole Jenet (Editor) February 27, 2012 at 06:27 pm

I figured that this bridge being closed would be super inconvenient for drivers. It's going to be closed for a long time too!

Eric S February 27, 2012 at 06:51 pm

Yeah, the people on Brownsville Rd. are just going to love this. Along with Bucks Rd and Bridgetwon Pike. Oh well, the convienences of good infrastructure require the occassional inconvienences. If it goes as well as a few of the other rebuilds we've had it'll go quicker than expected and provide service for many years to come.

chas mcgee February 29, 2012 at 03:35 pm

this bridge was done about 10 years ago, what was done then i am not sure of but i question if reconstruction was needed why wasn't it done then ? this proves just what a waste of money penndot has become of late. most of the workers are drinking coffee and eating donuts whenever i go through another project anywhere, this is just simpky a money grab and if they only redeck the bridge rather than a total rebuild we should do something to make penndot work more effectivily

Eric S February 29, 2012 at 04:15 pm

In defense of the workers....have you ever worked construction? It's very common that one crew needs to be on standby while another completes a task. It seems like a waste of manhours but in the end it's more economical, both in money and time. If the second crew isn't onsite when needed the work stops completely. There are different specialties needed as the work progresses so more than one trade maybe required, ergo second, third and fourth sets of workers.
Also keep in mind, these are bidded jobs. Penndot only manages the overall project but contractors do the work. They make their money by moving fast, not dragging it out. In fact the contractors have a due date, beyond that date they are penalized financially. They also are paid as phases are completed, so the sooner they finish a phase the sooner they get their payment. There is no incentive to go slow. At times there are also bonuses for completing the work ahead of schedule. This is common on jobs such as this bridge.