Motorists will encounter plenty of delays and detours beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and continuing for the next 18 months as the Greenfield Bridge in Pittsburgh closes.

Guy Costa, the city's chief operations officer, apologized for the inconveniences. He said they are necessary to accommodate a state-of-the-art steel open-spandrel arch bridge, replacing the crumbling concrete structure that exists today.

“It is a major link for motorists, pedestrians and for bicyclists,” Costa said. “It's going to be a long project.”

The bridge, which connects Greenfield to Schenley Park, will shut down Friday night. A public party dubbed Bridgefest is planned Saturday night on and off the bridge, before the team of contractors from Mosites Construction Co. takes over. The project cost of $17.5 million is the largest in the city's modern history, Public Works Director Mike Gable said. Federal money will pay 80 percent, with 15 percent coming from the state and 5 percent from the city.

Detour routes will be posted on greenfieldbridge.otmapgh.org . Costa said he expected detours to be tweaked as drivers navigate around Pittsburgh.

“We're going to ask people to be patient,” he said.

The city estimated 14,000 vehicles a day travel the bridge.

Construction crews during the next two months will take down as much of the bridge as they can.

They will need two weekend closures of the Parkway East, said Pat Hassett, assistant director of DPW's Bureau of Transportation and Engineering. Those days have yet to be determined, but detours will be in place.

The Parkway East will close for five days after Christmas so the bridge can be imploded.

Melissa Daniels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-380-8511 or mdaniels@tribweb.com.

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