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.
