Route 30 in East Pittsburgh on track to open by end of June
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Contractors are making good progress on installing a retaining wall along a section of Route 30 in East Pittsburgh that collapsed in early April and may meet the goal of reopening the highway by the end of June.
Workers performed tension tests Friday on anchor rods that will hold precast concrete panels. If the rods are properly anchored in bedrock, crews can begin dumping 40,000 cubic yards of fill to rebuild more than 500 feet of the highway, said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, PennDOT’s district executive for Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties.
Speaking after an event Friday at which Gov. Tom Wolf highlighted an expanded pothole patching and road paving program, Ms. Moon-Sirianni and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald praised consultant Gannett Fleming Inc. and contractor Golden Triangle Construction for working up to seven days a week on the highway. Golden Triangle has a $6.54 million emergency contract for the work.
“They have moved heaven and earth to get that project done,” said Mr. Fitzgerald. “It’s nothing short of spectacular what they are doing.”
Ms. Moon-Sirianni called the project “a testament to teamwork” among her department, the consultant and the contractor, as well as suppliers who have have met an expedited schedule. Mr. Wolf said the state plans to submit the Route 30 work — which includes several million dollars more for emergency housing for residents displaced by the highway collapse — along with other landslides statewide to federal officials for emergency funding. Officials believe all are tied to record rainfall in March and April.
Route 30 is a major artery to the Parkway East from North Versailles, East McKeesport and North Huntingdon. It has been closed between the outbound exit at East Pittsburgh and the Westinghouse Bridge since April 7, when three lanes fell when the hillside under it collapsed.
The debris destroyed two of five buildings in the Electric Avenue Apartments. A house on Beech Street Extension had to be razed. Ten residents need permanent replacement housing, but 21 others should be able to return to the apartments when the work is done.