Bristol, PA – Commuters Warned Of Extreme Delays Because Of Cracked Bridge

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    This photo shows the Delaware River Bridge in Bristol, Pa., Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. Tens of thousands of drivers are being told to expect "extreme" delays for weeks because the bridge connecting Pennsylvania and New Jersey had to be shut down over a cracked steel truss. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Bristol, PA – Engineers will need at least two weeks to get a handle on the repairs required to fix a heavily traveled bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey after one of its steel supports fractured cleanly into two pieces, a highly unusual event that had some experts suspecting a flawed, 6-decade-old weld.

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    The Delaware River Bridge, which connects the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes, was closed indefinitely after workers discovered the broken steel truss last week. Tens of thousands of motorists were told to expect “extreme delays.”

    Heavy traffic was reported at other river crossings in the area Monday, with one span reporting backups of up to 6 miles.

    Photos posted on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s website showed a massive truss under the bridge’s westbound lanes sheared in half. Officials believe the 14-inch truss failed recently and suddenly.

    “It’s incredibly unusual for steel to break like that,” said Joe Martin, an engineering professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “Pieces don’t break. They stretch, they twist, they give you some warning to get out of there. … Fractures are the bridge engineer’s nightmare.”

    Karl Frank, professor emeritus of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, said Monday he suspects holes were mistakenly drilled into the truss during construction and were filled with plug welds that were defective and eventually gave way.

    Martin agreed with Frank’s assessment, adding: “We would never allow that today.”

    The Philadelphia Inquirer originally reported on Frank’s theory.

    Lehigh University scientists are analyzing a piece of the fractured support to help determine the cause of the failure. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission spokesman Carl DeFebo said that in addition to the suspected welds, experts are looking at a range of possible causes, including a flaw in materials or design.

    Work is underway to stabilize the bridge, which sank slightly. Crews have installed steel plates to brace the fractured truss and will be jacking the bridge back to its original position. The bridge will be supported by eight temporary towers until a permanent fix is made.

    The span, which opened in 1956, carries more than 42,000 vehicles per day on Interstate 276 over the Delaware River. It is jointly owned by the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes, which have spent tens of millions of dollars in recent years on upgrades.

    With the bridge out of commission, transportation officials are urging commuters to carpool or consider working from home, changing their work hours or using public transit.

    “All of that volume is going to need to be absorbed by the adjacent bridges if everyone makes the decision to get in their car,” DeFebo said.


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