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Inspectors Find No Major Problems With MacArthur Road Bridge

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Dan Hartzell, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Mar. 14--The good news is, engineers discovered no major problems during inspection of the MacArthur Road Bridge over Route 22 Monday, and finished their study of the south end of the structure early by about 12:30 p.m.

The bad news is, one lane in each direction on Route 22, the region's busiest thoroughfare, will be closed for up to six hours today, promising pain for twice as many motorists as Monday, when a just single eastbound lane was shut down.

Even worse, daily closures of at least one lane are likely in the coming days, possibly through next week (excluding both Fridays), as bridges to the east on Route 22, of a similar design and age, get the same treatment, said Ronald J. Young Jr., regional spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Two lanes will have to be closed today to complete the inspection of the MacArthur bridge as engineers review the center section, which spans both passing lanes of Route 22, and to start getting a look at the Fifth Street and Fullerton Avenue bridges immediately to the east, Young said.

The work is scheduled 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., to avoid jam-ups during the heart of the morning and evening rush periods, but it could be completed earlier, Young said.

A chunk of concrete fell from the MacArthur bridge in Whitehall Township at about 3:15 p.m. March 8, landing close to the median separating the opposing lanes, but causing no apparent accidents or damage. The chunk, which was 6 feet by 3 inches, was part of a buffer section between the bridge deck and a support beam, officials said.

Engineers theorize that a crack may have created the sliver when the bridge was struck by a vehicle at some point -- all of the affected Route 22 spans, which date to the 1950s, likely have been hit at one time or another over the past half-century, Young said -- and that it was shaken loose by vibrations.

It's believed to be a one-time event, but engineers want to be certain, and will inspect the other bridges as a safety precaution, Young said.

Inspections of the Fifth Street and Fullerton Avenue spans could be finished by Wednesday, or might extend to Thursday, he said.

Officials also plan to study three similar bridges on the east side of the Lehigh River, in Northampton County, and that might begin as early as Thursday.

The bridges at Hecktown Road and at Country Club Road, both in Bethlehem Township, and at 13th Street in Easton, also are scheduled for study, possibly next week.

In an unrelated engineering review, the Albertus L. Meyers Bridge on Eighth Street in Allentown is being inspected as part of the routine two-year safety program, Young said. That work began Monday and should be done by Wednesday.

Finally, the comprehensive review of all the non-composite, adjacent concrete box-beam bridges in PennDOT's Allentown-based District 5 is progressing well, Young said. There are 78 such bridges in the six-county district.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

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Source: The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania

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