Picture this: Greg Gorman, President and COO of PennStress, is at the PCI-MA annual meeting on January 28th when he gets word that a major bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, PA. An emergency project team is put together and given the green light to start working on the rebuild immediately.
With conventional methods, replacing a bridge this size would’ve taken about three to four years, plus for planning the bridge, choosing its design, obtaining approval, installing an abutment, and cleaning the site.1 With precast concrete construction? Fern Hollow Bridge in Frick Park is on track to completion in under a year.
“This is extremely, extremely fast. On a normal bridge project, we probably would’ve been about year three before we reached this point,” said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, District Executive at Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
Project Details
- Three-Span Replacement Bridge
- Almost 100 Feet Above the Park
- 21 Prestressed Concrete Bulb Tee Beams
- Beams Are 155 Feet Long, over 100 Tons & 10 ksi Concrete Strength
The project team, including PennDOT, the city of Pittsburgh, HDR, and Swank Construction, took a big step in rebuilding the Fern Hollow Bridge, replacing the old steel bridge with prestressed concrete beams from PennStress. This decision was made because of precast’s exceptional strength and flexibility, which have fueled the project’s extraordinary construction rate.
- Long-Term Strength & Durability
In its completion, the new Fern Hollow Bridge will be a high-quality, resilient, and low-maintenance structure designed to maintain stability and strength for a 100-year service life. The bridge will be able to withstand inclement weather, a harsh aquatic environment, hurricane-level winds, and occasional impacts from cars or boats. - Flexibility & Structural Versatility
Precast helped the project team meet critical, high-performance measures while reducing the need for other materials and human resources. Since precast is fabricated off site in a factory-controlled environment, the producer guaranteed consistent, accurate pours every time and delivered structural elements to the job site just in time. This accelerated installation and minimized disruption to the surrounding environment.
In conjunction with precast’s inherent qualities, the collapse of Fern Hollow Bridge begged the need for an emergency acquisition system. The project team was stacked with both public and private players who worked intensely to meet unprecedented construction rates, delivering the bridge beams just six months after the initial collapse. It’s incredible for a bridge project of this magnitude to move so quickly and open in less than a year, and it’s all thanks to close collaboration and a push to meet this community’s urgent need.
What does the story of Fern Hollow Bridge teach us? It’s critical to consider precast concrete for accelerated bridge construction and repairs. According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), repairing and replacing the country’s “structurally deficient” bridges will take more than eighty years if we don’t move at a monumental pace to fix them once funding is made available.2
On January 28th, when the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, we got lucky. Only four people were injured, and none sustained life-threatening injuries. If the bridge collapsed an hour later during peak commuter time, it could’ve been a different story. We look forward to our future contributions to safer infrastructure across the nation.
MOVE FASTER & BUILD BETTER WITH PRECAST CONCRETE
Here at the PCI Mid-Atlantic Chapter, we’re proud to be a leading voice for the precast, prestressed concrete industry that promotes the growth, profitability, and positive perception of the Mid-Atlantic market. Our goal is to bring awareness to the inherent benefits of precast and success stories like the Fern Hollow Bridge. Read more about the new Fern Hollow Bridge’s arrival in Pittsburgh.
Keep precast concrete and the Mid-Atlantic region’s precast businesses in mind for your next project. Find helpful design tools, project resources, and detailed information on working with precast in our comprehensive Solutions Center.
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