Fern Hollow Bridge: State Releases New Project Renderings
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- PennDOT released project renderings for the Fern Hollow Bridge on Tuesday.
The span collapsed on Jan. 28, leaving several people injured in Pittsburgh's East End.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that $25.3 million in federal funding has been made available for the reparation project, which is scheduled to begin in late April.
Below are several renderings of what the repaired bridge will look like upon completion:
The images of that fateful January day are still fresh in Gainey's mind: a bridge lying in rubble at the bottom of a ravine.
"We want to make sure that none of us wake up to this again," he said Tuesday afternoon. "I want to announce today that I have asked my staff to reinspect all city-owned bridges that are rated poor or below."
The mayor said the 22 city-owned bridges in poor condition will be reinspected. If any are deemed unsafe, they will be closed. He wants people to know when they drive across a bridge, they are safe.
"The only way we can do that is getting this bridge repaired first and taking a look at the reassessment of the other bridges," Gainey said.
To expedite the construction process, PennDOT said the road alignment will stay the same: four lanes for the more than 14,000 cars that use it a day. A shared-use path will be on the south end for bikes and scooters.
"It's critical that this bridge is open before the Commercial Street project gets started, so that's very important," PennDOT District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni said.
Right now, the ravine is clear of debris and ready for crews to start the rebuilding process. State leaders went to the site Tuesday to see the need for infrastructure investment not only in our area but across the state where about 3,400 bridges are in poor condition.
"Every single community across the commonwealth whether urban, rural or suburban has safe roads, safe bridges," State Rep. Joanna McClinton said.
Due to supply chain issues, no exact completion date has been announced. The hope is to have the new bridge up in the next year or so. It needs to be done in a timely manner. The Commercial Street Bridge on the Parkway is slated for construction and this would become the detour.
Mayor Gainey did not have a date for when he expects findings on the 22 bridges in poor condition to be completed, but he said the city is working with PennDOT to inspect them.
