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Construction workers continue to work on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday in Canonsburg.
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After historically rainy April, Southern Beltway contractors are scrambling to stay on schedule

Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette

After historically rainy April, Southern Beltway contractors are scrambling to stay on schedule

For months, Independence Excavating of Cleveland and its subcontractors were able to keep several weeks ahead of schedule in construction of a 4-mile section of the Southern Beltway.

Then the record rains of April happened. 

Now, crews are scrambling just to stay on schedule so they can begin the crucial, time-sensitive paving schedule for the first part of this segment of the 13-mile, $800 million toll road being built by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on the border of Allegheny and Washington counties near Pittsburgh International Airport.

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It’s important to begin laying concrete in the next few weeks so there is enough time to have it done before the weather worsens again about the end of October. Everything is in place to begin: 5 million cubic yards of dirt were moved last year to cut hills and fill in valleys; three bridges are in various stages of assembly; even an on-site concrete mixing plant just off Candor Road is ready and waiting.

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But the rain has left large sections of the road unsuitable for paving at this point. That has eliminated the “float” on the project, the leeway the contractors were able to create by working ahead of schedule. 

“We’re down to being just on schedule because we lost all of our float,”  Bob Kohlmyer, construction supervisor for CDR McGuire, the turnpike’s construction manager for this project, said Thursday. “We’re on time as long as we don’t lose any more days.”

Below-surface problem

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So how thick is a brand-new road? About 22 inches.

First is the existing ground known as the subgrade base. Excavators spent the better part of nine months last year essentially moving dirt from one place to another to create the bottom layer of what will become the new highway. Almost every area has about 5 feet of earth to serve as the subgrade base.

On top of that will be a 6-inch layer of 2A stones with a maximum size of 1.5 inches, followed by a 4-inch layer of permeable asphalt to help with drainage and then 12 inches of concrete. 

The plan was to scrape off the top few inches of dirt this spring and use what’s left as the subgrade base. But when inspectors ran filled tri-axle trucks over the scraped land to test it, they found it was spongy in numerous places, indicating the land underneath is wet and unsuitable for paving.

Workers add curing compound to the surface of the new Southern Beltway, Aug. 17, 2018, in McDonald.
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As a result, inspectors marked soft spots with red paint and ordered crews to remove the wet material and replace it with dry dirt.

“If you have a spongy bottom, you can’t dry it out,” said Mr. Kohlmyer, picking up an exposed clump of clay that was about the consistency of Play-Dough. 

“It’s underneath something, so it’s never going to dry. You can’t build on it. You have to take it down to the wet, take it out and replace it, then pile the top back on.”

The turnpike has about a dozen inspectors on the site to test the surface and make sure it’s ready for placing the top 22 inches. Gary Patterson, a field inspector for GAI Consultants, said it’s a tedious process to dig down about 3 feet to find the wet material and remove it, but it’s not unusual.

“After all that rain we had, it made everything wetter than it’s supposed to be,” he said.

Mr. Kohlmyer said the problems with the subgrade aren’t anyone’s fault — except maybe Mother Nature.

“We moved over 5 million cubic yards,” he said. “It’s going happen a little bit. It’s part of the process.

“Hopefully the road lasts years longer because we make sure it has a proper base.”

Critical bridge 

The poor weather also slowed down some of the progress on another important part of the project, the bridge over Little Raccoon Creek.

Bridges at Quicksilver Road and Candor Road are in various stages of completion, Quicksilver almost finished except for paving because it will be difficult to get machinery in later and Candor less far along because it’s finish isn’t as time-sensitive.

But the project schedule calls for Little Raccoon to be one of the first items to be paved. That’s becasuse it literally will serve as the bridge for dozens of trucks from the mobile concrete plant to the rest of the road. 

Rain didn’t interfere much with placing the bridge’s massive precast concrete beams, reinforcement bars or other items to prepare the bridge for paving. 

But it did prevent pouring concrete to fill the area known as “the blockout,” which essentially holds the ends of the bridge together, until Thursday. The blockout is an area about 2 feet wide between the ground and the beginning of the bridge beams and holds the expansion dams, a rubber material used to accommodate the bridge’s expansion and contraction as the weather changes.

While another crew placed reinforcement bars in the middle of the bridge, a concrete truck dumped its load a couple of yards at a time into a concrete bucket, a cone with a nipple on the bottom like a funnel. A crane lifted the bucket and suspended it above the blockout.

One member of the five-man crew pushed the lever to drop the concrete into the blockout while the others worked the mixture into the space and smoothed it out to eliminate air bubles.

If contractors can get the bridge on time, Mr. Kohlmyer said, they likely will begin working extra shifts when paving begins so they can build more float.

“They want to work ahead. The same situation [poor weather] is likely to happen in the fall.”

Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.

First Published: May 14, 2018, 10:15 a.m.

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Construction workers continue to work on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday in Canonsburg.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers pour concrete into an expansion damn blockout on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday in Canonsburg.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
A construction worker cleans up the dirt at the Quicksilver Bridge that is under construction on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
A construction worker cleans up the dirt at the Quicksilver Bridge that is under construction on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
A car drives underneath the Quicksilver Bridge that is under construction on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
A truck passes by near the Beach Hollow Road Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers continue to work on Candor Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers continue to work on Candor Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers continue to work on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers get ready for concrete to be poured in diaphragms on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers get ready for concrete to be poured in diaphragms on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers get ready for concrete to be poured in diaphragms on Raccoon Bridge on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Construction workers remove wet clay from the surface on Thursday.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette
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