On May 23rd, the Association for Bridge Construction and Design (ABCD) Pittsburgh Chapter presented BH’s Pine Creek Bridge No. 11 with the 2017 ABCD Award for Outstanding New Single-Span Bridge.
Design and construction of Pine Creek Bridge No. 11, owned by the Allegheny Department of Public Works, required creativity and technical expertise to address a number of significant challenges, including:
- Addressing the structural deficiencies of the existing bridge, which had an overall structural sufficiency rating of 44.9
- Designing a wider deck to increase safety for vehicles negotiating the horizontal curve at the approach onto the structure and to provide two lanes of traffic over the bridge
- Designing the foundations adjacent to the railroad to account for the railroad live load surcharge
- Designing the structure while minimizing impacts to the existing utilities
- Maintaining access to adjacent businesses
The new bridge is a two-lane, prestressed concrete adjacent box beam superstructure with a single span of 68 feet, 6 inches. The curb-to-curb width is 34 feet and allows for a buffer zone for pedestrians.
Noreen L. Karolski, PE, Senior Transportation Engineer in BH’s Pittsburgh office, led the team for this award-winning structure. Noreen has 30 years of experience leading bridge design projects throughout the Pittsburgh region.
You can read more about the Pine Creek Bridge No. 11 project here.
Noreen L. Karolski, PE, (pictured center), is presented with the ABCD Award for Outstanding New Single-Span Bridge for Pine Creek Bridge No. 11.