The Pennsylvania Turnpike is in the process of closing a notable gap in its service area: linking Uniontown with Pittsburgh to its north. As one official noted in media reports, “There’s never been an easy way to get up [t]here … this [new construction] is basically a high-speed bypass.”
The four-phase PA Route 51 to I-376 of the Mon/Fayette Expressway (PA Turnpike 43) project recently involved setting beams over Route 51 to construct a new bridge. ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania, a member of the ALL Family of Companies, supplied a pair of lattice boom crawler cranes to dual-pick the beams for its customer, Century Steel Erectors of Dravosburg, Penn.
Specified for the job were two Manitowoc MLC300 crawlers. The MLC300 sits in a sweet spot with its capacity and its many advantages allow it to compete with higher-capacity cranes. With each configured with Series 3 counterweights at 474,000 pounds and 177 of main boom, the machines were used to lift a series of bridge beams extending 134 feet to 150 feet long and weighing up to 90,000 pounds.
“At times, we were lifting doubles,” said Billy Rieger, dispatcher for ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania, “which increased weights to 180,000 pounds.”
For the dual picks, each crane hooked to rigging attached to carefully planned pick points, lifted each piece 98 feet in the air, and brought them to rest on bridge piers where Century Steel’s ironworkers could complete tie-ins. It took approximately two hours to accomplish each lift, with a total of 16 beams set over four 10-hour days.
Also assisting with the lifts was Century Steels’s own 250-ton capacity crawler crane.
Although the cranes were set up in such a way that the booms extended between existing bridges on either side, Rieger says the site was well-prepared and there were no obstruction issues or challenges. The MLC300s were chosen for their capacities as well as the ease in which they moved to different set-ups on the job site.
For this first portion of the bridge work, no road closures were required as it is new construction. However, connecting spans will eventually put the work directly over Rt. 51 below. At that time, Rt. 51 will be closed for a weekend as the spans are connected. Work will likely or around-the-clock that weekend to ensure it is completed in the allotted time.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s Mon/Fayette Expressway (PA Turnpike 43) encompasses four separate projects. The first three have been built and stretch 54 miles by connecting I-68 near Morgantown, West Virginia, to PA Route 51 in Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County. The next portion of this project will see bridge construction over Coal Valley Road. Work is expected to begin September. Rieger anticipates the two MLC300 crawlers being used for that work as well.