Article by Randy Bartley

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — A parade of sorts traveled down Brookville’s Main Street early Thursday morning.

One of many steel girders destined for the Interstate 80 Bridge wound its way along Route 322 (Main Street), accompanied by the Brookville Police and several escort vehicles.

Laura Kelly of Pittsburgh-based Monaloh Basin Engineers notified the Brookville Borough of the impending move. In her notification, Kelly said that, weather permitting, the beam setting activities on Water Plant Road in the borough would begin this week and continue for the next five weeks.

Water Plant Road is a borough road that leads to the Dr. Walter Dick Park and the Brookville water works dam. I-80 passes through the Brookville Borough.

The oversized load started at the Truckstops of America located at Exit 78 shortly after 8:00 a.m. The route snaked down West Main Street before entering the main section of the street. The road continued down what is popularly called Gromley Hill before making the left turn onto the tar and chipped Water Plant Road.

A steel beam required for the renovation of the I-80 North Fork Bridge waits at the Truckstops of America early Thursday morning before moving through Brookville. Photo courtesy of the Brookville Police Department

Fay, the contractor on the bridge replacement project, made an agreement with the property owner across from Water Plant Road to allow the trucks to use the parking lot to assist with the radius of the truck as it turns left. The wooden “Fish for Fun” sign that stood over the road had to be removed as well. Kelly said the sign would be restored once the beams have been delivered.

In addition to the beams, the large crane, currently located at the I-80 work site, will be moved down Richards Street onto East Main Street and then to Water Plant Road.

Brookville Police Chief Vince Markle said he was told the crane would be disassembled at the present work site and reassembled at the new site below the bridges.

Markle said he was told it would take 50 trucks to move the crane elements.

At a public meeting at the start of the project, representatives with Fay Construction, the contractor of the North Fork Bridge project, said the replacement of the east- and west-bound bridges is expected to take four years. During construction, one lane of traffic would be maintained in each direction during the construction.

The dismantling of the I-80 eastbound bridge over the North Fork Creek continues. The I-80 bridges currently straddle Brookville’s Dr. Walter Dick Park. Photo by Randy Bartley/EYT Media.

The purpose of the project is to “provide safe, efficient and effective crossings of I-80 over North Fork Creek and Water Plant Road that appropriately accommodate interstate traffic with respect to connectivity, mobility, loading and geometry,” according to PennDOT.

PennDOT stated that many crashes, nearly twice the statewide average, have occurred on this segment of I-80 due to a substandard curve on the western approach to the eastbound bridge. The bridges were constructed in the 1960s.

The $329 million project is part of PennDOT’s P3 (Public-Private Partnership) program. PennDOT said that an average of 33,000 vehicles per day utilize the bridges.

The plan presented by PennDOT calls for construction in three phases. The first phase calls for the construction of a new eastbound bridge next to the existing westbound bridge. When the new eastbound bridge is opened, westbound traffic will be moved onto the new bridge, and the existing westbound bridge will be demolished.

Phase Two calls for the demolition of the current westbound bridge and a new bridge to be erected in the same location.

Phase Three will see both the east- and west-bound traffic restored and the existing eastbound bridge demolished.

The closing of Jenks Street in Brookville created the need for a detour for local and school traffic. Jenks Street is used to access the Hickory Grove Elementary School and the Brookville Area High School. The detour is on Allegheny Boulevard.

The Richardsville detour is 5.3 miles long and loops traffic back onto Route 28 from the Butler Cemetery Road. The Richardsville Road (SR 4005) was originally scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2028.

The post A Parade of Progress: Steel Beams Move Through Brookville for Interstate 80 Bridge Project appeared first on exploreJefferson.

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