Liberty Bridge project to last another 3 weeks

Drivers of the 55,000 vehicles a day that use the Liberty Bridge will have to wait a little longer for an unobstructed ride across it.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has extended work on the bridge rehabilitation project for another three weeks. Joseph B. Fay Co.’s contract for the project had called for it to be finished Sunday, but the new finish date is Sept. 18.

“There will only be another week or so of lane restrictions on the bridge,” PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said in an email Tuesday. “The additional work will be mainly on the Boulevard of the Allies.”

That work will involve cleaning and brick pointing of decorative stone. In addition, crews will extend a barrier at one of the bridge supports at Second Avenue and B Street, beneath the bridge, to prevent vehicles from hitting the support.

That work is expected to cost about $16,000.

In addition, a section of pedestrian railing that was struck by a vehicle will be replaced. Steel for that work is being fabricated and won’t be ready for about three months.

That will cost about $30,000, and PennDOT will seek reimbursement from the motorist.

The project to replace the bridge deck, reconstruct ramps, repair structural steel and concrete, and add a fresh coat of paint, new signs and a new overhead alternating lane control system began in April 2016. The

initial contract of $80 million has increased by a couple of million dollars due to additional work.

The project was marred and the bridge nearly collapsed after a fire in September 2016 that occurred when hot slag from a steel-cutting operation on the bridge deck fell onto plastic pipe stored on a construction platform. The fire buckled a key support chord, closing the bridgefor 24 days.