Penn Street Viaduct Project

1. Penn Street Viaduct Project By: Doug, Brandon, Jeff, and Jon

2. Photo attributed to River Place on the Schuylkill North Aerial View

3. Photo attributed to River Place on the Schuylkill South Aerial View

4. Penn Street Bridge History • The original Penn Street Bridge was built in 1815. • The second bridge was built in 1851. • The second bridge was demolished and a new bridge/viaduct was made. • Viaduct - a bridge that is used to carry something; usually a railroad • The third bridge/viaduct was demolished in 1913 and the new bridge was built. • Ninety six years later the bridge still stands, but is also in very bad shape.

5. Current Damage • The Penn Street Bridge was built in 1913 and has not been maintained recently and is clearly deteriorating at an exponential rate. • The bridge has been receiving very poor ratings during inspections of the past few years. • When you look at the bridge you can clearly see deep cracks, chips, and holes. • Water also leaks through the bridge.

6. This picture allows you to clearly see the deep cracks throughout the bridge. There are also many large chips out of the supports of the bridge.

7. In this picture deep cracks are also very prominent and you can easily see that the rebar is rusting very heavily.

8. This photograph displays the severity of the cracks and also the extent of the damage to the columns.

9. Plan of Action • Our plan is to replace the Penn Street Bridge with an Arch/Suspension Bridge. • The current bridge is state-owned. • The new Penn Street Bridge is based on the design of The Tyne Bridge. • Due to the extent of the damage to the bridge repairing the bridge would not be sufficient and also costly. • If the current bridge was upkept properly throughout the years the costs for repair would not be high.

10. The Tyne Bridge

11. The Tyne Bridge • The Tyne Bridge consists mainly of a steel arch that spans the majority of the bridge. • The main means of support for The Tyne Bridge is its columns which exist on both ends of the bridge.

12. The New Penn Street Bridge • This is a basic view of what the new bridge may look like after it is completed.

13. Re-routing Traffic • In order to cut down on the increase in traffic due to the loss of the bridge traffic will need to be re-routed.

14. Conclusion • After our research we decided that it would be best to replace the Penn Street Bridge with an Arch/Suspension Bridge. • The new bridge is going to be based off of the design on The Tyne Bridge. • The traffic would have to be re-routed because the bridge carries a heavy load of traffic.

15. Questions???

16. Works Cited • Baughn, James. "Facts" Penn Street Bridge. 2002. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://bridgehunter.com/pa/berks/63422005010360. • "Bridge Information" Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. 2005. PennDOT. 3 Mar. 2009 <http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/web.nsf/Second ary?OpenFrameset&Frame=main&src=InfoBridge?ope nform>. • Google Maps. 2009. Google. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl>. • Instructor’s Penn Street Bridge/Viaduct Photos 4/02/2008 • Penn Street Bridge/Viaduct Photos by River Place

17. Works Cited (continued) • Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvania: A History, Editor-in- Chief Cyrus T. Fox, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., [c1925], pp. 42-54. • "The Tyne Bridge" Ian Hardy Motorsport Photography. 2008. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://ianhardy.net/tynebridge.php>. • "Tyne Bridge." Wikimedia Commons. 2005. 3 Mar. 2009 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyne_Bridge_- _Newcastle_Upon_Tyne_-_England_-_2004-08-14.jpg>.