Schuylkill
River Bridge
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River Bridge
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Urban Engineers, Inc. garners top prize in Engineers' Week Competition; Schuylkill River Bridge Project wins Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award
Urban Engineers, Inc. has been named the winner of the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award for 2001 for the Schuylkill River Bridge/Diamond Run Viaduct Project on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The award was presented by The Delaware Valley Engineers' Week Awards Committee of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers at its December 7, 2000 Competition Dinner. Urban was the designer, construction manager, and construction inspector for this project.
The award-winning project, located between the Valley Forge (Exit 24) and Norristown (Exit 25) Interchanges in Montgomery County, involved upgrading 1.8 miles of roadway; rehabilitating the existing Schuylkill River Bridge; and "shoehorning" a new 1,224-foot-long eastbound bridge between the Turnpike right-of-way and an existing Conrail railroad bridge just 55 feet south of the Turnpike. The project took place on the most heavily traveled four-lane section of the Turnpike while maintaining four lanes of traffic throughout construction. More than 50,000 vehicles per day use this highway and this figure is expected to double by 2020.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission called this project ". . . the most complex in the Commission's history." The technical aspects of this project demanded a high degree of engineering innovation and resourcefulness. For example, bridge foundations required in-depth study as a result of their location in a Karst limestone area; steelwork spanned an active SEPTA commuter rail line, the Schuylkill River and State Route 23; the Diamond Run was diverted for construction of new abutments and piers for the Conrail Bridge; a 660-foot-long viaduct was demolished and replaced with fill between two bridges; and 3,000 cubic yards of compaction grouting were placed in a void under a new abutment at Conshohocken Road.
The $34.5 million bridge project was a critical component in the Turnpike Commission's plan to widen the Turnpike between the Norristown and King of Prussia interchanges. The new bridge handles eastbound Turnpike traffic while the rehabilitated original bridge now handles westbound traffic.
Urban Engineers, Inc. has been named the winner of the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award for 2001 for the Schuylkill River Bridge/Diamond Run Viaduct Project on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The award was presented by The Delaware Valley Engineers' Week Awards Committee of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers at its December 7, 2000 Competition Dinner. Urban was the designer, construction manager, and construction inspector for this project.The award-winning project, located between the Valley Forge (Exit 24) and Norristown (Exit 25) Interchanges in Montgomery County, involved upgrading 1.8 miles of roadway; rehabilitating the existing Schuylkill River Bridge; and "shoehorning" a new 1,224-foot-long eastbound bridge between the Turnpike right-of-way and an existing Conrail railroad bridge just 55 feet south of the Turnpike. The project took place on the most heavily traveled four-lane section of the Turnpike while maintaining four lanes of traffic throughout construction. More than 50,000 vehicles per day use this highway and this figure is expected to double by 2020.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission called this project ". . . the most complex in the Commission's history." The technical aspects of this project demanded a high degree of engineering innovation and resourcefulness. For example, bridge foundations required in-depth study as a result of their location in a Karst limestone area; steelwork spanned an active SEPTA commuter rail line, the Schuylkill River and State Route 23; the Diamond Run was diverted for construction of new abutments and piers for the Conrail Bridge; a 660-foot-long viaduct was demolished and replaced with fill between two bridges; and 3,000 cubic yards of compaction grouting were placed in a void under a new abutment at Conshohocken Road.
The $34.5 million bridge project was a critical component in the Turnpike Commission's plan to widen the Turnpike between the Norristown and King of Prussia interchanges. The new bridge handles eastbound Turnpike traffic while the rehabilitated original bridge now handles westbound traffic.
