Lessons learned in Pittsburgh could benefit Baltimore when rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When you look at the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge and the Francis Scott Key Bridge, it would appear the only thing they have in common is their demise, but the lessons learned here in Pittsburgh may have significance as the effort begins to restore Baltimore's critical link.
The lessons are not in the collapse itself, but in the aggressive approach to rebuilding.
Under normal circumstances, getting a new Francis Scott Key Bridge up and open would take longer than anyone could tolerate.
"A normal bridge project like that, honestly, probably 10 years throughout the design and construction process," said Cheryl Moon, a retired PennDOT executive and professional engineer.
Moon says that the process can be condensed a lot, and Pennsylvania proved that with the new Fern Hollow Bridge rebuilt and reopened in 11 months.
"The emergency declarations and proclamations are definitely a key to moving this thing a lot quicker," Moon said.
Moon says that those declarations in Baltimore will allow them to do what her team did with Fern Hollow by cutting red tape and allowing a lot of the time consuming agreements to move a little bit quicker.
In the case of Fern Hollow, they compressed steps and were able to hire a design engineering consultant and the contractor at the same time.
"That can definitely save years by allowing those folks to be a collaborative team throughout the whole process," Moon said.
She says it will be quite a process because it's not like you can dig up the old design plans and hit 'repeat.'
"You're going to have to design this basically from the water up," Moon said
With the designer and contractor working together, they can adjust to available materials and schedules, but Moon says it won't be easy.
"There's a ton of engineering that has to be done," Moon said. "Again, trusses are the most complicated type of bridges to design."
With design, steel erection, concrete pouring, and more, Moon says she thinks it would be a miracle if anything could be rebuilt in under two years.
She says that the old bridge has to be cleared, which won't be easy, the pier will need assessed to see if it can be used, and just ordering the steel fabrication as soon as possible is crucial because getting it will be time consuming.
There is also an emphasis on getting the Port of Baltimore reopened to shipping, which could impact the work.
Moon says it will make things complicated because shipping happens around the clock and it's not like they can just work during the overnight hours or have extended times when they can halt the water traffic.
It's going to take significant coordination, which is certainly a complicating factor that crews didn't face in the case of Fern Hollow or or in Minneapolis when the bridge carrying Interstate 35 collapsed in 2007.
