The new phase of the Route 28/Route 8 interchange work in Etna is officially scheduled to be done by Nov. 26, but the contractor can earn a $30,000-a-day bonus for an early finish.

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette A worker walks past a section of pipe that will be used to replace a water line on Isabella Street in Etna. The new line is being installed as part of the new phase of the Route 28/Route 8 interchange project, which is expected to be completed by the end of November. Click photo for larger image.

The maximum bonus that West Mifflin-based Trumbull Corp. can earn is $420,000 if it beats the clock by 14 days, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Dick Skrinjar said.

PennDOT started counting several days ago, although yesterday was the first day that detour and traffic switches went into effect after a weekend delay because of rain.

If Trumbull is successful, 60,000 motorists a day affected by the road work in the Allegheny Valley corridor could find things back to normal before Thanksgiving, according to Skrinjar.

"That's not going to be easy," he said, not only because of the scope of work rebuilding several bridges, the Route 8 ramp and about a mile of Route 28 south of the recently widened bridge, but also because relocating a 50-inch, high-pressure water main has proved more difficult than expected.

"We're encountering a lot of unforeseen situations that could revise the timetable," PennDOT project engineer Brad Miller noted. "That's why we've been telling the public that the project won't be finished until the end of the year."

Skrinjar said PennDOT and the contractor are working from inaccurate and outdated century-old plans from the local water and sewer authorities.

The water line is not in the place shown in the paperwork and local sewage lines are hampering work too. Consequently, Trumbull was unable to complete relocating and replacing the water line by last weekend as scheduled.

The crossover limiting traffic to one lane in both directions on Route 28, along with the Route 8 detour via Kittanning and Butler streets through the heart of Etna, has yet to cause the congestion that PennDOT predicted.

"It has been typical in recent years for people to avoid high-profile construction sites for the first few days or weeks," Skrinjar said. "Once they start hearing things aren't so bad, they start returning to the old route and that's when the problems start."

Traffic heading south on Route 28 has been restricted to one lane past Etna despite the fact that the mainline overpass was widened to two lanes two years ago. This year's project will widen Route 28 south of the bridge to accommodate two thru lanes of traffic along with the new on-ramp from Route 8.

After this year's phase of the project, PennDOT still must complete the northbound side of the Route 28 interchange in Etna -- work that is to be done in two phases. It also will rehabilitate the 31st Street Bridge, probably starting next year, and rebuild the dangerous, narrow stretch of Route 28 from the DelMonte/Heinz plant to the 40th Street Bridge.