By Ray Silcox
POTTSVILLE (Aug. 5, 2007) – With recovery efforts into its third day in Minneapolis after the collapse of Interstate 35w, attention has turned to our local bridges, those bridges our families and neighbors drive over everyday and which pose the question, “Could the same thing happen here ?”
According to records posted on Pennsylvania’s web site (www.dot.state.pa.us) our state has the largest number of structurally deficient bridges in the nation — nearly 6,000 statewide. “A structurally deficient bridge is safe, but in need of costly repairs or replacement to bring it to current standards,” reports the PennDOT website.“We have dramatically increased the money we spend on bridge repairs,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell in a press release issued the day following the tragedy in Minnesota.
“Residents can rest assured that Pennsylvania has an aggressive bridge inspection and repair program and, based on what we learn about this bridge disaster, we’ll evaluate whether changes need to be made to our current, aggressive inspection process,” he added.
“PennDOT already has an aggressive bridge inspection program that regularly inspects all of Pennsylvania’s bridges at least once every two years to identify even the slightest deficiency,” said State Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E. “Our staff and contractors will immediately begin the re-inspections and they should be able to complete the review by the end of November.”
Making a decision to go well beyond the guidance from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, Secretary Biehler said. “We will be re-inspecting all truss deck bridges rather than limiting our review to the 30 bridges originally identified as being similar in design to the one that tragically collapsed in Minneapolis.”
In the past four years, Pennsylvania has made significant state investments in our bridges. Last year, PennDOT invested an unprecedented $558 million in 867 bridge projects statewide with $133 million being spent on bridge preservation and the remaining $425 million devoted to rehabilitating and replacing structurally deficient bridges.
“I want to assure the motoring public that our bridges are safe even though many of them are in need of repair. My family and I do a lot of driving throughout the state and I’m not going to hesitate for one second before crossing any of our bridges,” the Secretary said.
Pennsylvania has 10 deck truss bridges similar to the Minneapolis bridge that are rated structurally deficient including the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge which connects Philadelphia and Camden, N.J.
This steel arch and bascule span stretches 2,324 feet across the Delaware River with approximately 70,000 vehicles crossing it daily. A $15 million project was completed in December 1997 to redesigned its deck features and adding additional steel reinforcing rods to strengthen the deck. It was first opened to traffic on August 14, 1929.
The others include two spans along Interstate 476 in Carbon County, two in Lehigh County, three in Allegheny County, one in Armstrong County, and one in Westmoreland County.
Structurally Deficient in Schuylkill
Closer to home, along our Schuylkill County highways there are 68 bridges that are owned by the state that are listed as “structurally deficient bridges.”
These are:
|
Municipality |
State Route |
Feature Crossed |
Location |
| MAHANOY | 0054 | MAHANOY CREEK | EAST OF MAHANOY CITY LINE |
| RUSH | 0054 | PINE CREEK | BARNESVILLE @ HOLLY RD. |
| NORTH MANHEIM | 0061 | MAHANNON CREEK | AT S.LIBERTY STREET |
| SCHUYLKILL HAVEN | 0061 | TRIB.TO SCHUYLKILL RIVER | BORO OF SCHUYLKILL HAVEN |
| POTTSVILLE | 0061 | READING/NORTHERN RR | NEAR POTTSVILLE CITY LINE |
| POTTSVILLE | 0061 | SCHUYLKILL RIVER | NEAR INTERSECTION US209 |
| DELANO | 0081 | READING/NORTHERN RR | 0.4 MI.N.OF EXIT 134(38) |
| DELANO | 0081 | READING/NORTHERN RR | 2.7 MI.N.OF EXIT 134(38) |
| DELANO | 0081 | READING/NORTHERN RR | 2.7 MI.N.OF EXIT 134(38) |
| KLINE | 0081 | READING/NORTHERN RR & RA | EXIT 138(39) MCADOO EXIT |
| HEGINS | 0125 | PINE CREEK | 0.5 MI.S.OF HEGINS |
| HEGINS | 0125 | TRIB.DEEP CREEK | 0.4 MI.N.OF HEGINS |
| ELDRED | 0125 | BR.OF MAHANTANGO CREEK | VISTA ROAD |
| REILLY | 0209 | SWATARA CREEK | 3 MI.E.OF TREMONT |
| BRANCH | 0209 | READING/NORTHERN RR | 0.25 MI.W.OF POTTSVILLE |
| TAMAQUA | 0209 | LITTLE SCHUYLKILL RIVER | TAMAQUA BORO E.BROAD ST. |
| WEST PENN | 0309 | LIZARD CREEK | SNYDERS |
| WEST PENN | 0309 | KERSHNERS CREEK | LEIBEYVILLE,WEST PENN PK. |
| TAMAQUA | 0309 | LITTLE SCHUYLKILL RIVER | CENTER ST,TAMAQUA |
| KLINE | 0309 | BACKFILLED CHANNEL | 0.5 MI.N.OF MCADOO |
| MAHANOY CITY | 0339 | MAHANOY CREEK | NORTH MAIN STREET |
| NORTH UNION | 0339 | CATAWISSA CREEK | VILLAGE OF ZIONS GROVE |
| NORTH UNION | 0339 | CATAWISSA CREEK | CATAWISSA CREEK ROAD |
| NORTH UNION | 0339 | TRIB.TO CATAWISSA CREEK | CATAWISSA CREEK ROAD |
| PINE GROVE | 0443 | SO. BR. SWATARA CREEK | 1 MI.EAST OF PINE GROVE |
| SCHUYLKILL HAVEN | 0443 | SCHUYLKILL RIVER | COLUMBIA STREET |
| SCHUYLKILL HAVEN | 0443 | TRIB.TO SCHUYLKILL RIVER | DOCK ST.,SCHUYLKILL HAVEN |
| PINE GROVE | 0645 | SWATARA CREEK | 2.4 M.N.OF BERKS CO.LINE |
| WEST BRUNSWICK | 0895 | SCHUYLKILL RIVER | 0.25 MI.E.OF AUBURN BORO |
| WEST PENN | 0895 | LIZARD CREEK | VILLAGE OF SNYDERS |
| NORTH MANHEIM | 0901 | WEST BR.SCHUYLKILL RIVER | 0.3 MI.N.OF CRESSONA BORO |
| GILBERTON | 0924 | READ/NORT,MAHAN CRK,4030 | MAIZEVILLE |
| SHENANDOAH | 0924 | R.R.(REMOVED)&CREEK | GOLD STAR HWY. SHENANDOAH |
| EAST UNION | 0924 | TRIB.TO CATAWISSA CREEK | 1.5 MI.N.OF BRANDONVILLE |
| EAST UNION | 0924 | TRIB.TO CATAWISSA CREEK | 1.75 MI.N.OF BRANDONVILLE |
| EAST UNION | 0924 | TRIB.TO CATAWISSA CREEK | 2 MI.N.OF BRANDONVILLE |
| EAST NORWEGIAN | 1001 | MILL CREEK | 400 FT.S.OF ST.CLAIR BORO |
| PORT CARBON | 1002 | MILL CREEK | POTTSVILLE ST.PORT CARBON |
| EAST UNION | 1005 | TRIB.TO TOMHICKEN CREEK | 1 MI.N.OF ONEIDA |
| WEST MAHANOY | 1008 | TRIB.MILL CREEK | MOREA-FRACKVILLE HYWY. |
| RYAN | 1011 | LOCUST CREEK | 1 M.E.OF LOCUST LAKE PARK |
| DELANO | 1012 | I-81 (LR1005) | 1 MI.NORTH OF DELANO |
| RYAN | 1013 | TRIB. TO LOCUST CREEK | 2.4 MI.N.OF US209 |
| KLINE | 1016 | LOFTY CREEK | VILLAGE OF LOFTY |
| RUSH | 1021 | CARBON & SCHUYLKILL RR | .8 M.N.OF HOMETOWN |
| WEST BRUNSWICK | 2003 | PINE CREEK | .25 M.N.OF FRISBIE |
| WEST BRUNSWICK | 2006 | MAHANNON CREEK | .4 MI.N.OF ORWIGSBURG |
| NORTH MANHEIM | 2010 | MAHANOY CREEK | E. ADAMSDALE RD. |
| SOUTH MANHEIM | 2011 | RED CREEK | MEADOW DR.@ DEIBERTS VAL. |
| WEST BRUNSWICK | 2016 | PINE CREEK | RED DALE ROAD |
| PORTER | 3015 | WICONISCO CREEK | GOLDMINE ROAD |
| CASS | 4008 | W.BR.SCHUYLKILL RIVER | VILLAGE OF FORESTVILLE |
| HEGINS | 4011 | PINE CREEK | GAP STREET,VALLEY VIEW |
| HEGINS | 4013 | RAUSCH CREEK | SCHWENKS ROAD |
| UPPER MAHANTANG | 4014 | MAHANTANGO CREEK | VISTA ROAD |
| UPPER MAHANTANG | 4016 | LITTLE MAHANTANGO CREEK | VILLAGE OF ROUGH N READY |
| HUBLEY | 4017 | PINE CREEK | HONEYMOON TRAIL ROAD |
| ELDRED | 4022 | TRIB.TO MAHANTANGO CREEK | MAIN ROAD, PITMAN |
| ELDRED | 4022 | MAHANOY CREEK | VILLAGE OF HELFENSTEIN |
| BUTLER | 4026 | BIG RUN CREEK | DUTCHTOWN ROAD |
| BUTLER | 4026 | MAHANOY CREEK | DUTCHTOWN ROAD |
| UNION | 4033 | LITTLE CATAWISSA CR. | ZION GROVE ROAD,RINGTOWN |
| NORTH UNION | 4033 | TOMHICKON CREEK | 1.2 MI.N.OF ZIONS GROVE |
| UNION | 4036 | TREXLER RUN | 0.75 MI.E.OF COLUMBIA CO. |
| RINGTOWN | 4037 | DARK RUN | BRANDONVILLE RD, RINGTOWN |
| ELDRED | 4039 | MAHANTANGO CREEK | CREEK ROAD (T-504) |
| KLINE | 8017 | T-906(MAIN ST.)HADDOCK | EXIT 138(39) RAMP M |
| KLINE | 8017 | L.R. 185 (PA 309) | I-81 RAMP M OVER PA 309 |
Please see photos of some of Schuylkill County’s structurally deficient bridges posted here:
Structurally Deficient in Schuylkill