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Dec. 10, 2008
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Celebrates I-79 Ramps Ribbon-Cutting
(PITTSBURGH) - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) opened the
new I-79 "missing" ramps, part of a $67 million project completed by
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. The ramps, which previously did not
exist, are west of Pittsburgh at the interchange of I-79 and State
Route 22/30 (Parkway West). A ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by U.S.
Rep. Tim Murphy, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, State Sen.
John Pippy and State Rep. Nick Kotik, among other DOT representatives,
marked the occasion on Dec. 9, 2008.
"The completion of these
ramps is a monumental project," said Jim Moynihan, president and CEO of
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure. "We consistently finished the project's
various phases ahead of schedule, despite the fact that the job
involved heavy, complex work."
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure
started the job's construction phase in October 2006. Among the
project's challenges was the requirement that more than a mile of the
existing Parkway be shifted up 50 feet to make room for more lanes.
Workers also installed huge girders, some 146 feet long, weighing more
than 200,000 pounds. A curved steel girder bridge called for 60 girders
weighing more than 4.4 million pounds.
The project entailed 1.6
million cubic yards of excavation, some of it through sensitive
wetlands. Prior to the construction of the ramps, traffic could not
travel directly from southbound I-79 to Route 22/30 or from inbound
Route 22/30 to northbound I-79.
According to a written statement
by PennDOT, the new ramps will decrease travel time to the airport by
45 percent and traffic on Route 60 by 20 percent. "Travellers should
notice a major difference with the completion of this project,"
Moynihan said. "It offers the Pittsburgh area more convenience and will
help the flow of traffic, significantly."
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. delivers
industry-leading civil engineering and construction expertise for
transportation and water infrastructure projects throughout the United
States. With more than 1,000 employees in major operations in
California, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia and Texas, Balfour Beatty
Infrastructure boasts annual revenues of more than $400 million. An
award-winning contractor, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure recently
received the AGC of America's 2008 Marvin M. Black Excellence in
Partnering Award and is recognized by Engineering News-Record as one of
the "Top 20 Transportation Contractors" and "Top 50 Domestic Heavy
Contractors" for 2009. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure is part of Balfour
Beatty plc, a global engineering, construction, services and investment
business organization specializing in large infrastructure and building
programs.
Download a PDF
of this release.
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