City of Bradford – Kennedy Street Bridge
The replacement of the Kennedy Street Bridge over the West Branch Tunungwant (Tuna) Creek in the City of Bradford was completed during the summer of 2011. The old bridge was restricted to one lane only and a 3 ton weight limit due to the failing condition of the existing superstructure. The weight limit and lane closure created a safety issue and an inconvenience to the businesses and residents near this bridge. The existing superstructure (pre-stressed adjacent box beams with an asphalt deck and reinforced concrete sidewalks and steel handrails) was removed, the existing masonry and reinforced concrete abutments were rehabilitated and a new superstructure was installed. The existing abutments were rehabilitated by adjusting and placing a new surface on the reinforced concrete beam seats and by repairing the cracked and spalled areas of the reinforced concrete portions of the abutments. Before The new superstructure consists of 6 pre-stressed spread box beams with a reinforced concrete deck, raised reinforced concrete sidewalks on each side and reinforced concrete barriers. The new s upe rs tructure maintained the pre-construction span length and roadway with of 83 ft. and 24 ft., respectively. The new raised concrete sidewalks are each 5 ft. wide. The drainage on the uphill (north) approach to the bridge was improved with the installation of 2 new storm inlets near the bridge, thus, minimizing the amount of uphill stormwater that will cross the bridge. A waterline attached to the east side of the bridge was replaced during the project. The design of the bridge project was completed by E&M Engineers and Surveyors, P.C. and their subconsultant, American Geotechnical & Environmental Services, Inc. (AGES). AGES was responsible for the geotechnical review ofthe existing abutments and the soils beneath them. The design was completed using PennDOT standards and under the direction of the PennDOT Engineering District 2-0 located in Clearfield, PA. The construction of the bridge project was let for bids in December 2010 and the low bidder for the project was the L.C. Whitford Company, Inc. of Wellsville, NY with a price of $444,436. The Federal Government contributed 80% of the funding for the design and construction of the bridge, the State of Pennsylvania contributed 15% and the local share was 5%. The L.C. Whitford Company began construction at the site in early May 2011. The prestressed spread box beams were manufactured by Whitford and the cast-in-place concrete for the entire project was provided by the Bisett Building Center of Bradford, PA. The pavement for the necessary approach work was provided by Interstate Amesite of Lafayette, PA and installed by Whitford. The bridge was reopened for traffic on September 2, 2011. After The project was completed approximately one month ahead of schedule and essentially on-budget much to the credit of the contractor, under the direction of Superintendent Dana Bradley, and to the E&M Inspector-in-Charge, Mike Reed. The bridge replacement project was also successfully completed due to the hard work of Debbie Huston and the other staff of the Bradford City Office of Economic and Community Development, the Bradford City Dept. of Public Works, The Bradford Water Authority, the Bradford Sanitary Authority and the PennDOT Engineering District 2-0.
