Fern Hollow Bridge poised to reopen to traffic late Friday after ribbon cutting
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It took just eleven months, but the newly rebuilt Fern Hollow Bridge is poised to reopen to traffic by late Friday.
Gov. Tom Wolf cut the ribbon Wednesday, joined by several local lawmakers including Mayor Ed Gainey, state Sen. Jay Costa and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
Crews still need to install a barrier to allow further work in one lane, but PennDOT's Cheryl Moon-Sirianni said it's looking like a "late Friday, very late Friday" reopening.
The bridge collapsed in January on a cold, snowy Friday morning. It injured 10 people, but miraculously, no one died.
Since then, the connection between Squirrel Hill and Regent Square has looked like a bustling construction site.
PennDOT said Wednesday it has worked relentlessly and tirelessly with designers, contractors and the community, saying the new bridge is a clear example of having enough funding for a construction project.
It also highlights the need for the additional $1.6 billion that will now go towards fixing other bridges across the state.
According to local leaders, we are in a race against time to repair our aging infrastructure.
PennDOT said Wednesday that a typical bridge replacement takes five years. so it's truly remarkable that this project will be completed in less than one year.
"I was here on January 28 to survey the damage from the collapse, and today, less than a year later, I stand before a bridge that is nearly ready to reopen to traffic," Wolf said.
"This is the power of government working for the people in Pennsylvania. I'm thankful to all of our partners in state, local and federal government for your partnership and coordination to rebuild the Fern Hollow Bridge in less than a year. It's an honor to be here to celebrate this incredible milestone for Pittsburgh."
The Fern Hollow Bridge collapse
It was a cold and snowy Friday morning in January when the bridge gave way, collapsing into Frick Park.
A number of vehicles, including a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus, at the time known as the Port Authority, were on the bridge when the structure gave way.
First responders rushed to the scene, rescuing a number of people.
It was a light morning for commuter traffic, as a 2-hour delay for area schools had been implemented due to the inclement winter weather.
Ten people were injured in total, with four of them taken to the hospital. Thankfully, no one was killed.
President Biden visits the bridge collapse site
Hours after the bridge collapsed, President Biden, who was scheduled to be in Pittsburgh on that same day, with plans to discuss infrastructure arrived at the site to survey the damage.
"I've been coming to Pittsburgh a long time, and as a former Pennsylvanian. But I didn't realize there were more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world," Biden said as he stood at the edge, promising to "fix them all."
Removing the Port Authority bus from the ravine
It was a spectacle event for all of Pittsburgh when crews removed the Port Authority bus from the site of the bridge collapse with a massive crane.
Rebuilding the Fern Hollow Bridge
Within weeks of the collapse, federal officials including President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made it a point to expedite the rebuilding of the bridge.
"$25.3 million in federal funds were made available for the project and was able to proceed without coming out of other critical projects in the region, thanks to some flexibility that exists with some of the new funds coming in under the president's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," said Buttigieg.
Shortly after the collapse, crews moved in with their demolition equipment, initially helping the NTSB with their investigation, and then moving towards the actual demolition of the bridge.
New renderings for the Fern Hollow Bridge
As demolition work was being done and crews cleared the site, PennDOT released renderings for the new bridge and provided some details of what we could expect from the rebuilt Fern Hollow Bridge.
PennDOT said the road alignment will stay the same: four lanes for the more than 14,000 cars that use it a day. A shared-use path will be on the south end for bikes and scooters.
Big beams arriving in Regent Square
Over the summer, the massive beams for the new Fern Hollow Bridge arrived at the construction site. It was a spectacle that brought out onlookers and major feat of logistics that also impacted traffic.
Concrete being poured
Once the beams were in place, a few weeks later, crews began pouring concrete for the new deck of the bridge.
Biden comes back to Pittsburgh
A few weeks after the concrete began being poured, President Biden returned to Pittsburgh in October to see the progress that had made towards the rebuilding of the new Fern Hollow Bridge and said he'd be coming back once the bridge was complete.
"By Christmas, God-willing, we'll be walking -- I'm coming back to walk over this sucker," Biden said.
Nearing completion of the new Fern Hollow Bridge
In early December, another milestone was reached when crucial pieces for the last step towards the completion of the bridge began arriving at the construction site.
"We're going to open here right before Christmas," said PennDOT executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni.
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