Monday, Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Sec. Barry
Schoch announced the list of 558 bridges that will be a part of the Rapid
Bridge Replacement Project to replace the direst of structurally deficient bridges
in Pennsylvania.
According to Sec. Schoch, the program has been made
possible through Act 89 transportation infrastructure funding and legislation
allowing for greater use of public-private partnerships (P3s).
“We believe through the two tools the legislature gave us
under Gov. Corbett’s leadership—the P3 tool and the Act 89 financing—that we
are going to have an opportunity to do a significant dent in our long-standing
structurally deficient bridge problem here in the Commonwealth,” Sec. Schoch
said.
The selection of the contractor for the project will be
made in October after final bids are submitted on September 29.
Sec. Schoch explained the project will save money by
bundling the bridges in location, size, and type while also front-loading
construction costs through replacement by using pre-fabricated bridge designs.
Construction for the projects is slated to begin in the
summer of 2015 and wrap up August 31, 2018, with financial penalties attached
to the private contractor if they fail to meet their deadline.
Currently, PennDOT is expecting the contract term to last
28.5 years with expenditures roughly estimated at $115 million annually for the
first three construction years and then a 25-year maintenance contract.
Under the terms of the program, PennDOT will retain
ownership of the bridges and perform basic maintenance with the private
contractor providing “life cycle” maintenance for its 25 years of
responsibility.
“These bridges will be designed with a 100-year design
life,” said Bryan Kendro, director of PennDOT’s P3 office.
According to the department there are currently just over
4,100 structurally deficient bridges in Pennsylvania with about 300 bridges
aging into structurally deficient status annually.
“It’s going to accelerate the reduction of the number of
structurally deficient bridges, along with our traditional methods of
design-build, bid-build under Act 89,” said Sec. Schoch. “You are going to see
us with this project rapidly knocking down that number and then continuing to
knock down the number with Act 89.”
Ted Leonard, executive director, of the AAA Federation of
Pennsylvania, said PennDOT should be congratulated for utilizing the P3 tool in
this way.
“The number and age of structurally deficient bridges in
Pennsylvania is a serious problem, and PennDOT is to be congratulated for this
innovative approach,” he told The PLS Reporter. “Bridge bundling will
save transportation funds both through the contract process and by shortening
the completion period to under four years instead of eight to 12 years, thereby
eliminating inflationary costs of an extended timeline.”
Leonard also noted the economic benefits of having better
transportation infrastructure as a result of the reduction in the number of
structurally deficient bridges.
“A shortened timeline will benefit not only the motoring
public but commercial traffic by eliminating costly detours around
weight-limited bridges,” he said. “Eliminating detours will lower consumer
costs and increase the competitiveness of state industries.”
Rick Geist, a former state Representative who chaired the
House Transportation Committee and was prime sponsor of the P3 authorizing
legislation, said he believes this is the first in what will eventually be a
plethora of public-private partnerships in Pennsylvania transportation.
“This is the beginning of a string of these things that
will happen over the next ten years,” he said.
Speaking specifically to the replacement project, he too
supported the use of P3s in this regard.
“It’s great because we have the most deficient bridges in
the country. It’s a good way to start to turn around and get this thing under
control.”
Video of Sec. Schoch speaking about the projects can be
found HERE.
Source: PLS
Reporter
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