Hundreds of Bridges Repaired in Pennsylvania
In 2015, Pennsylvania began work on a bold initiative to repair hundreds of bridges vital to their highway system. Pennsylvania worked with contractor Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners to undertake the repair of 558 structurally deficient bridges over a span of three years. The state agreed to pay $900 million, and according to the Department of Transportation the project is expected to be completed on time in 2018.
Since the project began two years ago, more than half of the bridges have been repaired and are open again to traffic. Currently, 104 more bridges are under construction, and 166 bridges are expected to be completed next year. Here we see an important investment from states in their own infrastructure, taking great strides to help improve the backbone of their state and improve the lives of local citizens.
GAIN is not just thrilled to see a project like this undertaken, but also to see it on pace to be completed on time. On top of the bridge repairs, the contracting firm has also agreed to care for the bridges over the next 25 years. This type of partnership between the state and a private company shows a clear path forward to fix our infrastructure nationwide.
For too long we’ve neglected our roads and our bridges, along with our trains, broadband, and a number of other important areas of infrastructure. Seeing this progress made is extremely encouraging, and we hope to see other states follow Pennsylvania’s example.