Replacement of Bridge No. WB-506 at MP 63.06 S.R. 130 over the Pennsylvania Turnpike

As a Prime Consultant, Arora and Associates, P.C. prepared the preliminary engineering, final design and contract documents for the replacement of Bridge No. WB-506 over the PA Turnpike mainline.  The existing bridge was a three span continuous, steel girder structure with an overall length of approximately 123’-5”. The new bridge was required to have sufficient span length to accommodate the 122’ cross section width of the PTC’s Total Reconstruction Program on the mainline and increase the bridge width to five lanes to accommodate future development in the area. The new bridge is a 205’ long, simple supported steel structure at a 60° skew and 100” deep girders. The replacement bridge was analyzed using the BSDI 3-D finite element software as well as supplemental 3-D FE models developed by our structural engineering staff. The new bridge is supported by reinforced concrete stub abutments which in turn are founded on rock. Arora’s geotechnical staff developed the subsurface exploration program (including on-site inspection), conducted a laboratory testing program using our in-house soils laboratory and prepared the Structure Foundation Geotechnical Engineering Report. The new bridge was replaced in three stages to maintain local traffic over the Turnpike mainline as there was not a reasonable detour route. Arora was responsible for all traffic design elements including: Signing & Pavement Marking Plans, and Maintenance & Protection of Traffic including temporary signals at Sandy Hill Road/Pleasant Valley Road which was very close to the structure and complicated the staging. Our staff coordinated extensively with PennDOT District 12-0 in order to include their  proposed  signal  improvements  at  PA  Route  130  &  Sandy  Hill/Pleasant  Valley  Road  in  our contract. Extensive utility coordination was required including the replacement of an aging water line containing asbestos and relocation of aerial power and fiber optic lines within the project limits. Additional utilities requiring coordination included telephone, cable, and gas. Arora’s work included development of the roadway alignment, alternatives analysis for the bridge size, developing Type, Size & Location study for the bridge and right of way plans.  Contract documents were advanced from Preliminary Design to Final Design in a span of 4 months. Arora coordinated this work with the Citizens In Motion (CIM) group who prepared a preliminary study for the widening of SR 130 along this section.. Following the award of the $6.0 million construction contract to Plum Contracting in January of 2011, Arora provided construction support services including consultation and shop drawing review and at the same time built a strong working relationship with the contractor by working side-by-side in resolving the encountered issues.