Repairs to begin on N. Franklin bridge

Construction signs will be going up next month as a bridge connecting Franklin Farms Road with South Ring Road around Washington Crown Center is repaired.
The project will take about two months to complete, and during part of the work, the sole access to the mall, hotel, medical complex and Washington Wild Things’ games will be from Route 40, also known as West Chestnut Street.
Rob Phillips, redevelopment authority assistant community development director, gave an update on the project Thursday at a meeting of the Washington County commissioners, when Supervisor Chairman Martha Ward, on behalf of North Franklin Township, accepted a $250,000 check from the Local Share Account of gambling revenue from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino. Eleven months ago, the township received an identical amount in a grant by the Commonwealth Financing Authority derived from Act 13 Marcellus Shale impact fees.
The bridge across Chartiers Creek will be getting six prestressed box beams, a new deck and barriers. Bearing seats will be reconstructed, concrete abutments will be repaired and the roadway approaches will be rebuilt. Pugliano Construction Co., Pittsburgh, has been awarded a $584,483 contract. Ward said rebidding the project resulted in a $50,000 savings to local taxpayers.
The bridge has been in the news for years, becoming a focus of attention after a badly deteriorated, 60-ton section of an Interstate 70 overpass collapsed under its own weight in December 2005. Like that bridge, the mall span was constructed using concrete box beams.
The state then launched a program to replace all state-owned bridges built in that style, leaving North Franklin on its own to replace the one there.