PennDOT District 8 today announced that on Feb. 12-13 and Feb. 18-19 construction crews will set bridge beams for the new Lowther Street bridge over Interstate 83 in Lemoyne Borough, Cumberland County. Lowther Street traffic is currently using a temporary structure to cross over I-83 while a new bridge is built.
This work is part of a nearly $8 million contract that was awarded March 28, 2012, to Susquehanna Valley Construction Corporation of New Cumberland, Cumberland County, and includes: installation of a temporary bridge, removal of the original Lowther Street bridge, and construction of a new two-span bridge large enough to accommodate four lanes of mainline I-83 as well as three ramps underneath with 20-feet 10-inches of vertical under clearance.
PennDOT advises motorists traveling I-83 North through Lemoyne that Feb. 12-13, weather permitting, they will encounter a single-lane restriction between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. including 15-minute traffic stoppages between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. while the bridge beams are lifted adjacent to live traffic and set into place. During the remaining course of construction it will be necessary to detour I-83 traffic twice to set new bridge beams and finally to remove the temporary structure. The earlier scheduled I-83 detours for the temporary bridge and demolishing the original bridge went very well and we are hoping for a similar result this time. PennDOT will issue travel advisories when this work is scheduled.PennDOT advises motorists traveling I-83 and Route 581 in Lemoyne that Feb. 18-19, weather permitting, they will first encounter a single-lane restriction in each direction at 9 p.m. followed by an overnight detour between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. as crews set the remaining bridge beams into place over I-83. I-83 North will be directed off at Brandt Avenue, turn right onto Lowther Street through Lemoyne back to I-83 North. I-83 North traffic headed to Route 581 West will also follow Brandt Avenue to Lowther Street and continue on I-83 North across the Susquehanna River into Harrisburg and be directed off at Exit 44-A for 13th Street to I-83 South back across the Susquehanna River to Route 581 West.I-83 South will be directed off at Exit 42 for Lemoyne follow Lowther Street over the interstate, turn left at 10th Street and back to I-83 South.
Route 581 East traffic headed to I-83 South will be directed to I-83 North to Exit 41-B for Highland Park, turn right onto Lowther Street through Lemoyne over the interstate and turn left at 10th Street to I-83 South.
The original single-span concrete bridge that carried Lowther Street over I-83 was built in 1952 and was considered functionally obsolete. That structure was a major contributing factor to the bottleneck on I-83 North approaching the City of Harrisburg and Route 581 West. PennDOT expects work on the new Lowther Street bridge to be completed by the end of May 2013.
