Parkway East To Reopen Earlier Than Expected: PennDOT

PITTSBURGH, PA —Following the successful lateral slide of the new $95 million Parkway East Commercial Street Bridge, PennDOT officials announced Wednesday that the parkway is expected to reopen next week.

That would be ahead of the original targeted date of Aug. 3.

The lateral slide operations began at approximately 10 a.m. Sunday. Using Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques, crews moved the structure 96 feet in seven hours. The remaining six feet of the slide was completed Monday morning.

This was one of the largest lateral slide projects ever performed in Pennsylvania.

“The innovation used in this project presented some unique challenges that our team was excited to take on, and it reduced years of public traffic impacts into a couple of weeks,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said. “I am pleased to say with the help of our industry partners, the Commercial Street demolition and slide was a big success.”

A skidding system was used to move the bridge into alignment with the Parkway East. Each of the 42 skid shoes installed can operate independently, with integrated hydraulic jacks used to lift the load from its temporary supports and set it down on the permanent bearings.

Prior to the slide, the explosive demolition occurred at approximately 8:00 a.m. on July 16. Crews then continued to demolish the remnants of the former bridge and cleared the necessary debris before beginning the slide of the new bridge.

A large portion of the parkway has been closed for the project since July 10, displacing about 100,000 motorists daily.

The exact reopening date will be determined dependent on weather conditions. Commercial Street and Nine Mile Run Trail in Frick Park are expected to reopen soon after.