Replacement of
the Pa Route 997 Black Gap Road Bridge over I-81
Green Township, Franklin
County, PA
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has contracted with Kinsley Construction, Inc. of York, Pennsylvania, to replace the two-lane Route 997 bridge over Interstate 81 at a cost of $8,352,794. This project is located in Greene Township, Franklin County, and extends from just south of the entrance to the Chambersburg Mall to just north of the southbound ramps with I-81. The overall project length is a little more than 1/2 mile.
The two-lane bridge to be replaced was built in 1963, has four spans, measures 224 feet long, with a clear roadway width of 30 feet. Nearly 12,100 vehicles travel over this bridge on a daily basis. The new replacement bridge will have two spans, measure a total of 218 feet in length, and have a roadway width of 70 feet which will provide room for five lanes -- two lanes of traffic in each direction and a center turn lane. The new bridge will also include a five-foot-wide sidewalk.
In addition to the new bridge, the project also includes widening, reconstruction, and resurfacing of Black Gap Road along with intersection improvements and a new interconnected traffic signal system. Other items of work include drainage improvements, traffic signs, pavement markings, utility adjustments, and other miscellaneous construction. Work on this $8.35 million project began in March 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009.
The project schedule concept calls for “staged construction”, which means that one lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained on the bridge throughout the project. There will be no need for a bridge closure and detour. Initially, one lane will be maintained in each direction on the existing structure while half of the new bridge is built alongside it. In the next stage, traffic will be shifted onto the new half, the old structure will then be demolished, and the second half of the new bridge will be built. Finally, work in the median area with the turn lanes will be done to complete the project.
