PENNDOT OPENS CARL F. CURRAN II BRIDGE IN EAST BRADY
East Brady, Pa. - PennDOT Engineering District 10 Executive Joseph P. Dubovi III, P.E., officially opened the Sergeant Carl F. Curran II Bridge in East Brady today at a 1 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony. Local legislators and officials helped cut the ribbon on the project, which spans the Allegheny River between East Brady Borough, Clarion County, and Bradys Bend Township, Armstrong County.
"This is a day over 15 years in the making," Dubovi said. "As we open this bridge today, we celebrate the numerous PennDOT engineers, consultants, construction contractors and community members who worked hard in the spirit of cooperation to make this project a reality.
What we have as a result is a brand new bridge that will serve our transportation needs now and into the future."
The ceremony included a memorial service for Sergeant Carl F. Curran II, for whom the bridge is named. Curran was killed near Fallujah, Iraq, May 17, 2004, while serving in the Pennsylvania National Guard's 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery out of Oil City. Curran grew up in the East Brady area and was a 2000 graduate of Karns City High School.
The main component of a $15.8 million project, the four-span bridge carries two lanes of Route 68, one in each direction, over the Allegheny River. Located 300 feet downstream of the pre-existing East Brady Bridge, the new structure is 1,034 feet long, has a deck area of 50,254 square feet and incorporates over 2.5 million pounds of structural steel.
Opening at the same time was a one-span concrete bridge over Sugar Creek in Armstrong County, also part of the project.
The project includes ornamental lighting and decorative concrete surfaces on the piers and abutments, selected with the help of a community advisory committee composed of area residents, property owners and business owners. A sidewalk on the new bridge will open in May after the installation of an ornamental pedestrian railing.
With the new bridge open, crews from Brayman Construction Company of Saxonburg, the primary contractor on the project, will begin demolition of the pre-existing bridge, a four-span through truss structure originally constructed in 1885. Parts of the bridge will be removed before it is dropped into the Allegheny River Monday, June 4, for full demolition. |