Pennsylvania |
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Engineer Anecdotes
"We drive in the left lane of the local highways because the passenger lanes are so deteriorated." - a civil engineer from Bethlehem, PA
"Recently had a major project for road and bridge reconstruction cancelled due to lack of funding. We had been working on the project for nearly 3 years and were nearly complete with the design." - a civil engineer from Pittsburgh, PA
"Recently it was discovered that a great amount of bridges within the county were in need of emergency repair. It would have been appreciated had this been noticed sooner, so that so many bridges would not have had to have been closed at the same time." - a civil engineer from Ephrata, PA
"Something needs to be done in the near future about the Schuylkill river corridor. Whether it is improving the existing I-76 expressway or adding light rail that would connect center city to the Reading area. The congestion is becoming unbearable." - a civil engineer from Philadelphia, PA
"Transit funding is in jeopady in PA. We need to develop a consistent and separate revenue source for transit that makes sense and is a user fee, e.g. it doesn't make sense to raise automobile registration fees to pay for transit since auto users typically don't drive transit - nor is this legal under PA's present legislation. Other states have a seperate tax that pays for transit. Pennsylvania is also a key state in terms of linking the rust belt to the east coast and ports along the east coast. Changing the fedreal gas tax allocation formula, as is being proposed, doesn't make sense - this will make PA's roadway and bridges decline further. This is a matter of national security as well - the maintainence of our infrastructure is critical to national security." - a civil engineer from Pittsburgh, PA
From the Headlines
Chunks of concrete falling from a deteriorating bridge forced the closing of a westbound interstate through downtown, snarling morning rush hour traffic. The South Street bridge, which spans I-76 and the Schuylkill River, also was closed as crews worked to install a safety grid under the bridge. Officials closed one westbound lane of the expressway during the rush hour and later closed both lanes, forcing the backed-up traffic to exit and then re-enter the highway. The aging bridge had been repaired repeatedly. It dropped a slab of concrete that disrupted expressway traffic in June. Associated Press 2/4/04
Residents of two western Lancaster County townships are upset about the closing of a deteriorated bridge they complained about three years ago. The Koser Road Bridge, which spans the Conewago Creek, connects Conewago and Mount Joy townships, with each municipality sharing ownership. The one-lane bridge was closed recently by Mount Joy officials after their engineer declared it structurally unsafe. Motorists and a school bus en route to Elizabethtown must now drive a few miles out of their way to cross the creek. There haven't been any major repairs to the bridge since about 1960. It could be at least two or three years until the bridge is replaced. Patriot News 3/14/04
When tow boat Capt. Steve Lumpkins moves coal through the century-old locks and dam on the Monongahela River at Elizabeth, he gingerly avoids weakened concrete walls and jutting metal rods that could gash and sink the 195-foot barges he pushes. "There are big chunks out of the wall as we approach from the upper end and three spots that we avoid touching that could cause a crash. That metal could rip the whole side of a barge open," Lumpkins said from the Richard C., a tow boat he operates for Campbell Transportation, a major commercial river line. The situation is likely worse under water. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a real concern that the locks and dam at Elizabeth, built on oak timbers driven through the river bottom and stone-filled wooden cribbing, are so badly deteriorated that they could fail and cripple commercial navigation and recreational boating. A failure at the dam, which opened in 1907, could drop water levels below minimum requirements for safe navigation and cause transporters of commercial goods significant economic loss, said engineer William Karaffa, acting project manager for the Corps. In addition to the new dam at Braddock, 70-year-old undersize locks at Charleroi also must be replaced with larger modernized locks before the crumbling infrastructure at Elizabeth can be demolished and removed. The Charleroi locks -- chambers that allow boats to change elevation and navigate past the dams -- also are based on wooden timbers and can sway enough under water pressure to pinch a large barge between its walls. In a 1990 study done to justify the need for the lower Mon reconstruction, the Corps said it could not guarantee the structural integrity of older facilities such as Elizabeth beyond 2000. Because of the progressive effects of usage and weather, Elizabeth is considered by the Corps to be one of the most deteriorated structures on the inland waterways navigation system, Karaffa said. He called the condition of Elizabeth and its continued ability to properly function a "grave concern" of critical importance for the transportation of coal, chemicals, fuel, steel and other commodities into and out of this region. The eventual removal of Elizabeth's small locks would erase a bottleneck that requires boat operators to disassemble large tows of barges, send them through the locks in segments and reassemble them before moving on -- a costly delay for the barge operators. The concrete flume used to empty water from the locks at Elizabeth is so fragile to the touch that a finger poke can turn it into gray dust. If the dam and locks were to fail and were out of commission for a year, the Corps estimates that delays and the subsequent need for alternative transportation would increase shipping costs to industry by at least $143 million. But with the problem left unresolved, it still will cost the industry about $10 million a year because of the small and inefficient size of the old locks. Pittsburgh Post Gazette 4/25/04
In Milford Township, most people seem to think Campbell's Bridge is historic and scenic -- and dangerous. The bridge is 72 feet long and just over 15 feet wide. In addition to its poor condition, crumbling concrete and narrow lane, the bridge is being replaced because of an extreme vertical curve, which is basically a big hump in the middle. According to Township Manager Jeffrey Vey, the hump creates a visibility problem -- and accidents -- for motorists on either side of the bridge. Campbell's Bridge is believed to be the first open spandrel concrete arch bridge in the state. Spandrels are the areas between the curve of the arches of a bridge and the horizontal road decks they hold up. In the early 1900s, several single-lane, concrete bridges were constructed throughout Bucks County. A century later, they are obsolete, unable to handle today's increased traffic and wide vehicles. Many are in sorry shape. The Morning Call 6/24/04
Big SUVs are now banned from the Washington Crossing Bridge. Officials say the 100-year-old bridge can't handle vehicles weighing more than three tons. Among the banned SUVs: the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, Dodge Durango, Ford Expedition, GM Sierra, Hummer, Range Rover and Toyota Land Cruiser. WPVI TV 6/21/04
For the longest time officials weren't sure if the channel wall at Kiwanis Lake would be repaired before it collapsed, possibly draining the three-acre lake on York's northwest end. Over the years, the city's public works crews unsuccessfully tried to patch and repair the wall and dam head area, near North Newberry Street, across from the Farquhar Park Pool. The wall has been in bad shape for years but the city did not have the funds to do the work right. City officials had committed $88,000 for the project this year but later cut the funding to help minimize the impact of a nearly 10 percent tax hike. The channel wall had deteriorated to the point where the work could no longer wait, forcing the city to borrow money from the city's sewer fund. York Daily Record 11/12/04
PennDOT is cutting $13 million from the reconstruction of I-79 between Bridgeville and the Parkway West, the 5.5 miles being the busiest stretch of the 180-mile highway. The region's 2005-08 highway-bridge program contains no money to reconstruct the section of I-79 between I-279 at Franklin Park and the Ohio River. All drivers can expect is for potholes to be patched this winter. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission has postponed funding a final design for reconstructing I-79 from Route 910, where Franklin Park and Marshall meet, to the Butler County line. In place of the comprehensive project, PennDOT plans to spend $7.7 million to patch and pave the stretch. They also plan to patch and pave two other sections rather than rebuild them. PennDOT District 11 Executive Director Karl Ishman said planners have been forced to juggle projects because highway spending needs are double the amount of money available. PIttsburgh Post Gazette 11/14/04
Millions of state dollars will soon be available for new or upgraded sewer and water lines, but cities, such as Wilkes-Barre, with aging infrastructure, or municipalities without prospects for economic development won't be the chief recipients. Voters overwhelmingly approved a statewide ballot question in the spring allowing the state to borrow $250 million for the upgrades. However, the particulars on how it would all work was left up to the legislature to decide. Lawmakers who crafted and approved the act reserved $200 million of the $250 million for rural municipalities to build new water and sewer lines to spur economic development that would bring new jobs. That leaves less money for boroughs and cities struggling to keep up century-old water and sewer lines. Several communities are grappling with the cost of upgrading or expanding their sewer systems, including Nuangola and Bear Creek Township. Both municipalities rely on private septic systems rather than community sewage systems. But the new law is unlikely to help either community, both of which appear to have limited developable land or the potential for economic growth necessary for sewer money. Mayor Tom Leighton said Wilkes-Barre would apply for any state money that might be available to fix the city's deteriorating water and sewer lines. "We just had four sewer lines collapse this year. That cost us $300,000 to $400,000 that wasn't budgeted. ... We're an old city whose infrastructure is in need of work." No matter who gets the money, the $250 million bond will barely scratch the surface to pay for sewer and water improvements statewide. The state Department of Environmental Protection places the total price tag at more than $13 billion. Times Leader 12/4/04
The City of Reading has agreed to pay $239,000 to settle federal and state allegations that it repeatedly fouled the Schuylkill with insufficiently treated industrial and household wastewater. The city's aging treatment plant discharged excessive levels of various pollutants, including mercury, "suspended solids," and ammonia-nitrogen, more than 750 times, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Such pollutants are an issue not only in Reading but downstream in Philadelphia, which gets much of its drinking water from the Schuylkill. Phoenixville, Pottstown and Norristown also get water from that river. Philadephia Inquirer 12/11/04
With Lehigh Valley roads and bridges deteriorating quickly, some state officials want drastic changes that would discourage expanding the region's road system and funnel most transportation dollars into fixing what's already here. "If you don't do preventative maintenance, your system can go downhill fast," said Don Lerch, assistant engineer for District 5, which consists of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties. "That's what we are currently experiencing with our interstates." The Morning Call 2/1/05
Sources
- Survey of the state's civil engineers conducted in December 2004
TRIP Fact Sheets, February 2005
Texas Transportation Institute, 2004 Urban Mobility Report
Government Performance Project, Grading the States 2004
The State of Garbage in America, Biocycle Magazine 2004
Condition of America's Public Schools, 1999
EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey, 2001
EPA Clean Water Needs Survey, 2000
Association of State Dam Safety Officials
