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TYRONE – A two-week-long project to lift a railroad bridge with a long history of being hit by tall vehicles is nearing its midpoint, and despite some inclement weather, contractors said they’ll likely meet their deadline.
The bridge, which spans 10th Street, is being lifted two feet from its current height of 12 feet 6 inches.
Months before the $1,984,836 project’s start, John Conrad, engineer with SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, said the work is necessary because the bridge has been hit several times and damaged by tall vehicles traveling beneath it.
Conrad said this portion of rail, which is owned by the authority, sees its share of train traffic, and during the project, the railway has to be closed.
That’s why the two-week time period – a period when many railroad clients conduct annual maintenance – was stipulated in the contract awarded to Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc.
Contractors are authorized to work 24 hours per day if necessary to meet the deadline, but Glenn O. Hawbaker project superintendent Shawn Speck said night work is being avoided.
“Everything looks good for the two-week window, as of now,” said Speck, who was flecked with dirt while standing near the work site Monday.
While a portion of the work simply calls for routine track raising, the track’s eastern portion requires the installation of multiple precast concrete slabs to bring it to the necessary height, Conrad said previously.
Speck said delivery of those slabs began last Thursday, and the project is “right on schedule, as far as getting them in place.”
That is despite recent damp weather that resulted in heavy downpours at times. These rains, Speck said, did slow work, especially when it came to waiting for a certain adhesive to dry.
One nearby resident, Alison Narehood, marveled at the workers’ ability to ignore the elements.
“It was pouring down rain, and they were all just working,” Narehood, a Lincoln Avenue resident, said.
Narehood, who on Monday was standing just feet from the affected railway, said construction hasn’t been a nuisance.
“It’s a lot quieter than the trains,” she said, as a crane moved massive stones just a block away. “I have a 2-year-old. She’s napping right now.”
Like Narehood, her father, Frank Ieraci, said he isn’t bothered by the work and added that contractors have been available to answer questions about the project.
However, Ieraci, who lives near his daughter on Lincoln Avenue, looked down 11th Street from a side yard on his property and said he’s curious to see what happens to the “pig hole.”
The pig hole, a pedestrian crossing near 11th Street that passes beneath the tracks, was originally used so farmers could walk their livestock across Washington Avenue while trains were on the railway, Ieraci said.
“My wife uses it all the time,” Ieraci said.
It lacked a covering Monday, but the pig hole’s clearance is to be raised slightly because of the project, Conrad said.
As far as working near residents is concerned, Speck said he knew of only one negative incident – the weight of one construction vehicle caused a water pipe to burst and leak into a basement. The problem was addressed quickly, he said.
Other than that, Speck said working with nearby residents and business owners has gone well, and he said he wanted to thank them for their cooperation.
But noise and damages are only part of the impact to the community. In addition to railway closures, several road portions are closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
A portion of 10th Street under the bridge is closed to vehicles and pedestrians and will remain closed throughout the duration of the project. Also, the southern portion of Washington Avenue from 10th to 11th streets is closed to traffic, and, during times when work conditions are dangerous, the northern part could be closed, too.
Rail bridges at Ninth and 12th streets also are being worked on to accommodate the 10th Street project. At times, there could be flaggers at those locations, Conrad said.
A signed, PennDOT-approved detour circumvents the project area by instructing motorists traveling from Altoona along Pleasant Valley Boulevard to turn left onto Third Street, right onto Clay Avenue, then right onto 15th Street and into the borough.
Borough manager Phyllis Garhart said this detour was problematic last Wednesday, when the project first started. She said detour signs were placed incorrectly, and the borough received “many” phone calls before the signs were moved to accurate locations. Other than that, she said, the borough has not received many complaints.
Speck said several groups of contractors are working 12-hour shifts each day in order to meet the project deadline. At times, he said, these workers are addressing different areas at the site to speed the operation.
After noon Monday, Speck said the crews were preparing to use a crane to lift the bridge from its normal resting place before placing it on concrete blocks on a nearby roadway, where its steel would be repaired.
The bridge raising is slated to be complete by the middle of next week. But Speck said work near the site could continue for another month, though it will have no affect on vehicle or train traffic.
Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.