PennDOT has released the first renderings of the new Fern Hollow Bridge as plans for construction get underway.
The department will handle construction, then hand jurisdiction back to the City once the bridge is completed. The project will use up to $25.3 million in federal funding.
“We are extremely thankful for our partners at PennDOT,” said Mayor Ed Gainey.
“Because of their leadership we have been able to move efficiently to begin the process so we can safely restore this critical piece of our infrastructure to our city. We are encouraged by the progress being made and are looking forward to this next phase of the project to reconnect this critical roadway for our city.”
HDR and Swank Construction are going to design and construct the new bridge through a Design Build partnership. The emergency declaration allowed city of Pittsburgh officials to transfer the project to PennDOT for management of the design and construction of the project.
“With the Fern Hollow Bridge seeing more than 14,000 cars daily, we knew it was critical to act quickly to reconstruct,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “This reconstruction will allow commerce to continue without further interruptions to the lives of community members.”
PennDOT's Cheryl Moon-Sirianni is hopeful construction will get started next month, prior to the Commercial Street Bridge replacement project.
Though there's no official timeline for completion, Moon-Sirianni is hopeful it will wrap next year.
"We're finalizing some of the design, the sub-structure design in April. By middle, to end of April, you'll start seeing the shovels down here and putting the foundations in. It will be the first step."
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