Harrisburg - The Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that the Fern
Hollow Bridge project is among the Top 12 finalists in the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ 2023 America’s
Transportation Awards competition.
The
Top 12 finalists – whittled down from 81 nominees from 36 state DOTs via four
regional contests – now compete for the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice
Award. Both prizes come with a $10,000 cash award for a charity or
transportation-related scholarship of the winners’ choosing.
“Rebuilding
the Fern Hollow Bridge in record time was the direct result of incredible
collaboration and is a testament to what is possible when everyone is committed
to taking action and finding solutions,” said PennDOT
Secretary Mike Carroll. “I’m incredibly proud that PennDOT and the
project team have been recognized with this award, and we hope that
Pennsylvanians will vote for this worthy project.”
The Fern Hollow
Bridge, which is owned by the City of Pittsburgh, carries Forbes Avenue over
Frick Park, Fern Hollow Creek and Tranquil Trail, collapsed on the morning of
January 28, 2022. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation by the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Immediately following
the collapse, then-Governor Wolf and Mayor Gainey issued Declaration of
Disaster Emergency Proclamations, which permitted the City of Pittsburgh to
enter into a legal agreement to allow PennDOT to manage the design and
construction of the new Fern Hollow Bridge. The proclamations also
provided the Federal Highway Administration and PennDOT the approval to
immediately contract with Swank Construction Company and HDR Inc. for the
removal of the collapsed structure, and the design and construction of the new
Fern Hollow Bridge. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), signed by
President Biden in November 2021, allowed PennDOT to quickly dedicate $25.3
million in federal funds to the project without impacting other critical regional
needs.
Thanks to
collaboration with the City of Pittsburgh and PennDOT’s innovative approach to
the standard design process, multiple design phases occurred simultaneously
including foundation, substructure, superstructure, utility relocation,
environmental, and aesthetic aspects of the project, which allowed project
delivery to be expedited by multiple years. The bridge opened to traffic on
December 22, 2022, less than a year after the collapse.
Sponsored by the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the competition evaluates projects in three
categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Best Use of Technology &
Innovation; and Operations Excellence. The projects are also divided into three
sizes: small (projects costing up to $25 million); medium (projects that cost
between $26 million to $200 million); and large (projects costing more than
$200 million).
The
Grand Prize recipient will be selected by an independent panel of judges, while
the People’s Choice Award will be given to the project that garners the highest
number of online votes from the general public, weighted by state population.
AASHTO will unveil the winners of these prizes at its annual meeting on Nov. 15
in Indianapolis. Online voting is now open at americastransportationawards.org
and continues through 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Individuals can cast
no more than one vote per day per project.
Cast
your vote for the Fern Hollow Bridge project here.
Individuals can cast no more than one vote per device per day.
To
learn more about the America's Transportation Awards projects, visit www.AmericasTransportationAwards.org.
Contact: Alexis Campbell, 717-783-8800 or alecampbel@pa.gov
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