Bearing replacement work will close the bridge that carries U.S. Route 222 South over the Pennsylvania Turnpike in East Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Nov. 9-12. This closure is part of a project that started April 2 to repair the U.S. Route 222 northbound and southbound bridges over the PA Turnpike.

PennDOT has contracted with Deblin, Inc. of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to conduct the nearly $2.4-million bridge preservation project that includes cleaning and painting the superstructure of the bridge, jacking up the bridge to replace bearings, concrete bridge deck repairs, and a latex-modified overlay to help seal the deck from water penetration and damage. This is major rehabilitation work intended to extend the useful service life of the two bridges.

U.S. Route 222 South will be detoured by way of Route 272 and Colonel Howard Boulevard from Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. to Nov. 12 at 6 a.m. This closure is necessary so that construction crews can safely “jack up” the bridge to remove and replace the bearings that help support the bridge beams.

The intent of the contractor is to address the repairs and overlay to the bridge decks this year. This has meant that traffic on U.S. Route 222 has had to be restricted to a single lane in each direction for the 2012 construction season, but traffic should be restored to two lanes in each direction for the winter season and should also remain open for the 2013 construction season. In 2013, there should be little impact to traffic on U.S. Route 222 as the contractor concentrates on the underside of the bridges, repairing and painting the steel portions of the structures.

The overall project is scheduled to wrap up in mid-Sept. 2013.
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Weather permitting, construction work will begin the night of April 2nd and April 3rd to place concrete barrier on the northbound and southbound bridges that carry Route 222 over the Pennsylvania Turnpike in East Cocalico Township in northeastern Lancaster County. With the placement of the barrier, both northbound and southbound Route 222 will be restricted to a single lane in the vicinity of the turnpike.

The project involves bridge preservation items that include cleaning and painting the superstructure of the bridge, jacking up the bridge to replace bearings, concrete bridge deck repairs, and a latex-modified overlay to help seal the deck from water penetration and damage. This is major rehabilitation work intended to extend the useful service life of the two bridges.

PennDOT has contracted with Deblin, Inc. of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to conduct the bridge preservation work at a cost of $2,394,359. The overall project is scheduled to wrap up in mid-September 2013. The intent of the contractor is to address the repairs and overlay to the bridge decks this year. This means that traffic on Route 222 will be restricted to a single lane in each direction for the 2012 construction season, but traffic should be restored to two lanes in each direction for the winter season and should also remain open for the 2013 construction season. In addition, during this 2012 construction season, there will be two weekend closures of Route 222 over the turnpike – one weekend for each direction. The weekend closures are necessary so that construction crews can jack up the bridges to remove and replace the bearings that help support the bridge beams. PennDOT will issue public announcements prior to the weekend closures to alert motorists of the closures and provide information about the detours. In 2013, there should be little impact to traffic on Route 222 as the contractor concentrates on the underside of the bridges, repairing and painting the steel portions of the structures.

Both bridges were built in 1972. The northbound structure is currently classified as structurally deficient (SD). The repair work will remove the bridge from the SD category. Total traffic over these structures averages a little more than 30,000 vehicles a day, roughly 15,000 in each direction.