FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2018
Status Update on Route 11/15 Repair for Roadside Wall in Perry County
-- The repair operation will require limiting motorists to a single lane, with traffic signals controlling the direction of traffic. --
Harrisburg, PA – Plans are underway to repair the masonry stone wall along northbound Route 11/15 that collapsed on April 16 just south of Perdix in Perry County. Immediately after the collapse, PennDOT maintenance crews placed concrete barrier along the northbound shoulder to protect motorists from entering the breach. Since then, PennDOT has enlisted the contracting firm of J.D. Eckman, Inc. of Atglen, Pennsylvania, to make the repairs, currently estimated at around $800,000. PennDOT and the contractor have also been working with Norfolk Southern, the railroad company that owns the tracks at the bottom of the embankment that carry nearly 100 trains a day. In late April, shotcrete was applied to the embankment to stabilize the rocks and help hold them in place. Core borings were drilled to determine the subsurface conditions, and design plans have been prepared for the repairs.
Starting this week, prep work is underway that will eventually restrict the section of Route 11/15 in the vicinity of the masonry wall to a single lane. Motorists should expect to encounter daytime single-lane traffic restrictions this week between 8:30 AM and 3 PM, with flaggers assisting them though the work area. This prep work includes traffic line eradication, the setting of additional concrete barrier, and the installation of temporary traffic signals. The new traffic signals will be covered until next week -- the week of June 4 -- at which time they will be uncovered and activated. Route 11/15 in the vicinity of the wall will then be limited to a single lane, and the traffic signals will control the direction of traffic through the work zone. PennDOT will announce the activation of the temporary traffic signals and the single-lane restriction when the date has been finalized. This single-lane traffic restriction will likely continue into mid-to-late July before the main repairs are completed.
When the single-lane traffic restriction goes into effect, the contractor will demolish the damaged area of the existing wall and build a new concrete wall. Masonry stones will be placed along the face of the new wall in order to tie in and continue with the masonry-wall appearance with the remaining length of the overall wall.
Motorists can also use Route 22/322 across the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County as an alternate route to avoid the single-lane traffic restriction on Route 11/15.
Motorists are asked to be alert to this repair operation, to obey the work zone signs, and to slow down when approaching and driving through the work area.
Motorists can check conditions on nearly 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 860 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.
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