Significant progress has been made along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (PA Turnpike) as the Beaver River Bridge Replacement Project is more than halfway completed.
The $269 million project, which began in December 2022, constructs two new bridges to the north of the current bridge and expands the roadway from two to three lanes in each direction, adding widened shoulders and median.
Pier tables are currently under construction on the eastbound bridge and have been completed on the westbound side. Each bridge is a five-span, cast-in-place, segmental bridge that is 1,645 feet long and 200 feet high. The westbound bridge structure is anticipated to open in mid-2026 with the entire project finished in 2027.
The Total Reconstruction Project is a system-wide initiative that creates safer corridors, better supports incidence response, and provides a smoother and more efficient experience for travelers. More than 160 miles of highway have been rebuilt across the PA Turnpike system with another 100+ miles currently either under construction or in the design phase.
The Beaver Valley interchange is being built to support the PA Turnpike’s new Open Road Tolling (ORT) system. In an ORT system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds without slowing down or stopping beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located between interchanges. Equipment on the gantry and on the roadway processes E-ZPass or Toll By Plate transactions. ORT reduces confusion and lane switching associated with traditional, stop-and-go tolling. Tollbooth removal eliminates obstacles, increases sight lines and reduces stress and distractions for customers entering and exiting the system. The switch to ORT east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension occurred in January. ORT will launch on the PA Turnpike’s mainline western section in 2027.
This roadwork is critical to delivering on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (PA Turnpike)’s mission of operating a safe, reliable, customer-valued toll road system that supports national mobility and commerce. Since 2023, the PA Turnpike has supported more than $1 billion in construction bids to modernize, maintain or improve customer experience. Key projects include resurfacing nearly 75 miles roadway, a record-high 27 miles of total reconstruction, and replacing key bridges at Beaver River and Hawk Falls. Resources and information on planned construction projects can be found at Traveling on the PA Turnpike | PA Turnpike.
FAST FACTS
MUNICIPALITIES/COUNTY: North Sewickley Township,
Homewood and Big Beaver Boroughs, Beaver County
NEW BRIDGE TYPE: Cast-in-place Segmental Bridge
TOTAL PROJECT COST: $269 million
ESTIMATED PROJECT COMPLETION: 2027
PROJECT TEAM: PA Turnpike, Owner; S&B USA, General Contractor; ALCM, Construciton Manager; CDR Maguire, Lead Design Engineer
BRIDGE REPLACEMENT & TOTAL RECONSTRUCTION
- Total Reconstruction Project expands the roadway from Milepost 12–14 to three lanes in each direction and widens the shoulders and median.
- The existing Beaver Valley Interchange (Exit 13) is being reconfigured into a more conventional interchange with PA Route 18 (Big Beaver Boulevard).
- Two new bridges, three-lanes in each direction, being built to the north of current four-lane bridge.
- Each bridge is a five-span, cast-in-place, segmental bridge that is 1,645 feet long and 200 feet high. Segmental bridges are built in short sections, one piece at a time, as opposed to traditional methods that build a bridge in very large sections.
- PA Turnpike built the first segmental bridge in Pennsylvania when Susquehanna River Bridge opened in 2007.
FUN FACTS
- Project includes enough concrete to fill over 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools (About 50,000 Cubic Yards or 10.5 Million Gallons)
- Bridges will have enough steel strand in it, that if stretched end to end, would reach from PNC Park to the Statue of Liberty (roughly 315 Miles)
- Reinforcing steel used inside the concrete will weigh as much as a fully loaded SpaceX Super Heavy Rocket (About 9 million lbs.)
shapiro and biden got this done… IN THE NICK OF TIME !!