PENNDOT selects HNTB for I-83 South Bridge project

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) has selected HNTB Corp. to provide bridge inspection and rehabilitation services for the I-83 South Bridge.

In choosing HNTB to repair and renovate one of the most heavily traveled corridors in Harrisburg, PENNDOT cited the firm's commitment to quality and the cost-effective use of innovative techniques, as well as the staff's prior experience with similar structures, including the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River and the Reedy Point Bridge over the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

HNTB's inspection work will include a detailed fatigue and fracture assessment, as well as preliminary and final design services. The company will team with Dawood Engineering Inc., ASC Group Inc. and EarthTech Inc.

The structure--a one-mile deck-girder bridge--opened to traffic in January 1960 as the first interstate highway bridge in Harrisburg, the state capital. It was expanded in recent years and currently accommodates three lanes each of north- and southbound traffic.

While it is formally named the John Harris Bridge, after the city's founder, locals refer to it as the South Bridge because it is the community's southernmost span across the Susquehanna River, linking downtown Harrisburg to its western suburbs in Cumberland County.