Interstate 76 (I-76), or the Schuylkill Expressway, is one of the busiest roads in the state. With the approximately 120,000 daily drivers traveling around Philadelphia and Montgomery County on this major highway, safety is paramount. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Engineering District 6-0 wanted to evaluate all the bridges in the county along this corridor. That’s more than 20 bridges from King of Prussia to Philadelphia.

District 6-0 contracted with RETTEW on this $5 million agreement to evaluate eight mainline structures; develop an alternatives analyses for preservation, rehabilitation, or replacement of the superstructures; and prepare a recommendation report. The purpose of the project was to extend the life of these structures by specifying rehabilitations of the existing structures along with designing preventative maintenance measures. This project helped avoid the need to replace the structures entirely, which saved costs and minimized impacts to the traveling public in the greater Philadelphia area.