The Allegheny County Department of Public Works has announced the completion of the second phase of the Philip Murray (South Tenth Street) Bridge rehabilitation project.
This phase, which began on June 19, 2017, was completed by the American Bridge Company of Coraopolis. It cost $21.1 million and was funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The project’s second phase included the installation of an innovative bridge cable dehumidification system, now one of only three in use in the United States. The other two systems are on the Delaware Memorial Bridges and the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridges in Maryland. This system draws in outside air, removes the moisture, and injects the air into the bridge’s cables to create a dry, non-corrosive environment.
The system is expected to practically stop cable corrosion for the bridge’s lifetime and save an estimated $4 million in future maintenance costs over the next 40 years.
Other major work items during this phase included structural steel repairs, wrapping of the suspension cables, replacement of the asphalt deck and waterproof membrane, replacement and waterproofing of the reinforced concrete roofs over the four bridge vaults, painting, line striping, and installation of new traffic signals.
The first phase of the rehabilitation project, completed in 2014, included replacing the bridge’s sidewalks and lighting.
The Philip Murray Bridge, opened in 1933, spans 1,275 feet and is one of only three conventional (parallel wire cable) suspension bridges in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It accommodates an estimated 18,000 vehicles daily.