Location Bucks County, PA, and Mercer County, NJ
Client Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC)
Services Construction Management
Project Value $396 million
Hill provided construction management support for the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission’s (DRJTBC) Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement project. The project consisted of bridge, interchange, and approach roadway improvements to the Scudder Falls Bridge (SFB), which carries Interstate 95 over the Delaware River between Bucks County, PA, and Mercer County, NJ.
The SFB project entailed a full bridge replacement, with twin structures: one for each roadway (northbound and southbound), with each roadway comprising three travel lanes along with two auxiliary lanes in the northbound direction and one auxiliary lane in the southbound direction to process exiting and entering traffic to and from the bridge along with left and right shoulders. The two interchanges, at I-95/Taylorsville Road Interchange in Pennsylvania and at the I-95/Route 29 Interchange in New Jersey, were reconstructed to improve safety and overall operating conditions.
The SFB roadway improvements extended 4.4 miles from the I-95/PA Route 332 (Newtown-Yardley Road) Interchange north to the I-95/Bear Tavern Road (County Route 579) Interchange in New Jersey and includes the replacement of several additional I-95 approach bridge structures in the area. Additionally, the project delivered a shared-use pedestrian/bicycle pathway next to the southbound lanes adjacent to the upstream structure. This pathway connects with the Delaware Canal State Park in Pennsylvania and with the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park in New Jersey. Additionally, a Bridge Monitor/All Electronic Tolling (BM/AET) Building was built along the pathway in Pennsylvania.
The SFB project was divided into four construction packages, a General Package, Package A, Package B, and Package C. Package A consists of the work on the Pennsylvania side and the Main River Bridge, Package B consists of the work on the New Jersey side, and Package C consists of the BM/AET Building. Each package followed, as applicable, governing specifications including PennDOT Publication 408/2016, NJDOT 2007 Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, and the Construction Specifications Institute.
The Hill team’s services included monitoring safety while maintaining and protecting traffic; coordinating with such stakeholders as PennDOT and NJDOT; assisting the Commission in maintaining project progress, managing change, and avoiding claims; and supporting the Commission in vetting and reviewing potential innovations and enhancements. Hill also helped to manage the project’s challenging staging and logistics constraints, including limited riverside access and in-water work, modern roundabouts, and work on property not owned by the Commission, as well as the environmental and cultural requirements of working on the Delaware River and coordinating and scheduling major utility relocation work.
