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Crazy Horse Bridge opens
NEW CASTLE, PA.
A major artery in West Pittsburg, which has long been closed to truck traffic, finally has opened.
The new Crazy Horse Bridge on state Route 168 over CSX tracks in Taylor Township officially reopened Nov. 24, six months ahead of its original construction estimate of May 2011.
Michael McCart, assistant construction manager for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 11, credited good weather and the efficiency of the contractor, Mekis Construction of Fenelton, Pa., for fast completion of the work that started in June.
He said work was expedited because closing the bridge was a major inconvenience in the area.
A complicating factor was that the nearby bridge over the Mahoning River on Pa. Route 18 closed about the same time for construction. It since has reopened.
McCart said that the severely deteriorated six-span bridge built in 1934 was replaced with a two-span, 235-foot bridge with a concrete deck at a cost of about $3.4 million.
He said that because it was in poor shape, the bridge had an 8-ton load limit for years, which was a problem for several local manufacturers in the West Pittsburg area whose trucks could not use the bridge.