Parts arrive at Pittsburgh's Liberty Bridge for fire repair
After listening to plenty of talk about traffic snarls caused by the Liberty Bridge's closure, Alan Tsang decided to see the culprit for himself.
On Tuesday afternoon, he climbed to the top of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority's First Avenue garage. There, perched above the Monongahela River, he looked to the south at the fire-damaged, blackened steel beneath the bridge's deck.
“I wanted to come over and look what's going on here,” Tsang, 64, of Squirrel Hill said. “Everybody is concerned about the traffic.”
Those concerns likely won't abate until early next week, despite repair barges equipped with a crane moving into position below the damaged bridge Tuesday. PennDOT officials hope to have the bridge reopened Sept. 19, nearly 2 1⁄2 weeks after the fire that first closed the span Sept. 2.
About 55,000 drivers a day use the bridge.
A 30-foot compression chord was heavily damaged in the fire. Fixing the problem requires the installation of jacking brackets and struts, PennDOT officials said.
PennDOT previously pledged to open the bridge by this Monday. On Friday, officials delayed that timetable, citing the “complexity” of fabricating and installing roughly 150 repair parts as the reason for the delay.
Joseph B. Fay Co., PennDOT's contractor on the bridge project, elected to use three fabrication facilities to expedite the processing of repair parts. But the spacing and complexity of the bolt pattern on the bridge's structure makes the process difficult to do in fabrication shops, so crews decided to do the job on-site, PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna said last week.
Cessna on Tuesday said crews were installing brackets, painting and priming repair parts and getting ready to hoist heavy steel struts into the air.
“The good news is all of the fabricated pieces have arrived,” Cessna said.
Struts could start moving into place Wednesday, with jacking operations to follow, he said.
A representative from Fay in a written statement Tuesday said the company, PennDOT “and a team of engineering experts from across the country are collaborating around the clock on Liberty Bridge repairs.
“Our primary focus is safety, having the design thoroughly reviewed to be the right solution, and ultimately returning the bridge to service as quickly as possible after the unfortunate incident that led to its closing,” the statement said.
The Liberty Bridge, which opened in 1928, is in the midst of an $80-million rehabilitation project. Sparks from a torch started the fire as rehab crews cut steel.
“Refurbishing a bridge that opened in 1928 is filled with many complexities,” Fay, of West Deer, said in the statement. “To put that challenge in perspective, we are applying modern engineering solutions to a bridge that was completed the same year that sliced bread was first sold commercially.”
Michael Walton is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-380-5627 or mwalton@tribweb.com.
