New project, same contractor on Interstate 79
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The same contractors are in line to be working on the same major highway again, but in a different place.
The joint venture of Trumbull Corp. and Lindy Paving has submitted an apparent low bid of $61 million to rehabilitate 6.5 miles of Interstate 79 between the Ohio River and the I-279 split in Franklin Park.
If the low bid passes muster with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation engineers and lawyers, the two-year project will start in earnest in March. Lindy Paving, of New Castle, is already doing $9.9 million of preparatory work that includes building crossovers to switch traffic to one side while the other side of the highway is rebuilt.
The stretch contains the last original concrete from when I-79 was constructed through Allegheny County in the 1960s through mid-1970s.
West Mifflin-based Trumbull and Lindy have been the prime contractors for the 6-mile, $93 million rehabilitation of I-79 between Bridgeville and the Parkway West for the past two seasons. A few tasks remain, such as bridge painting, but all traffic lanes have been restored for two months on the busiest stretch of the 180-mile highway between West Virginia and Erie.
The finished product between Glenfield and Franklin Park will look and ride much the same as the recently rebuilt section of I-79, PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna said.
But there will be some significant differences.
Traffic. An average 46,000 vehicles a day use I-79 between the Ohio River and I-279, compared with 89,000 south of the Parkway West. Both numbers increase during the summer vacation season.
Construction method. Instead of hauling away the exisiting concrete, it will be cracked into pieces and compacted to become the base for the new roadway. Then the contractor will resurface it with asphalt.
Express lane. A new traffic strategy will be deployed for the first time in peak travel times. For example, while the northbound lanes are reconstructed next year, northbound drivers who want to travel the length of the corridor will be crossed onto the southbound side. Drivers who want to exit at Mount Nebo Road will use a lane established on the existing northbound side. Only one northbound lane will be open over non-peak hours.
The project includes ramp improvements, drainage, guide rail, shoulders, upgraded lighting, new signs, installation of high-tech traffic monitoring and information systems, and bridge rehabilitations on structures like the Rochester Road overpass, work that could begin as early as next month.
Mr. Cessna said the low bid pleased engineers in view of high energy, cement and steel prices that have brought double-digit inflation to civil construction projects.
"The [$61 million] is right on target with our budget," he said. "The project is fully funded," most of it from the Federal Highway Administration.
In addition, PennDOT hired Michael Baker Inc. of Moon for $3.69 million to handle construction inspection and management.
First Published December 13, 2006 12:00 am
