EVENT DETAIL

In January 2017, a fracture in the top tension chord of a four-span continuous deck truss was discovered, forcing the immediate closure of the bridge connecting the PA and NJ Turnpike’s over the Delaware River at Bristol, PA.  Within hours, emergency repair designs were underway along with the fabrication of temporary splices.  Concurrently, the construction of emergency shoring/jacking towers had begun, and a plan was being developed to assess the 14 spans of deck trusses comprising the PA and NJ approaches. The bridge was reopened less than seven weeks after the date of fracture.  Learn how the jacking and restoration of the chord made a difference, as well as what sorts of material and nondestructive tests conducted were conducted.