I-79 Missing Ramps

Owner: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Start Date: January 2008
End Date: December 2008
Contract Amount: $67 million

The Missing Ramps project involved the construction of two direct connection ramps west of Pittsburgh at the existing interchange of I-79 and SR 22/30 (the Parkway West), providing a direct link between I-79 and the Pittsburgh International Airport. The project eliminated the requirement for daily commuters to use congested SR 60, which for the past 36 years had served as the main corridor for more than 13,000 vehicles per day.

Work included challenging structural designs, reconstruction and widening of a major limited-access highway, major earthwork, complex geometry and roadway designs. Complicating the project was the requirement to maintain traffic on I-79 and SR 22/30.

Another challenge 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 $67 million project entailed 1.6 million cubic yards of excavation, some of it through sensitive wetlands. It opened up to all traffic in December 2008.

 

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