Public-Private Partnership Board approves innovative bridge plan

The Pennsylvania Public-Private Partnership (P3) Board recently approved a bridge bundling Adjusted Bid, Design-Build proposal to reconstruct 15 bridges along two interstates in Luzerne County.

An Adjusted Bid-Design Build allows the designer and contractor to collaborate closely. It also allows the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to put greater consideration into contractors’ qualifications as well as project costs.

Currently, 15 bridges are fully funded through the Transportation Improvement Plan. The design phase is scheduled to begin next year, and construction is expected to be completed by 2023.

The board will find a contractor to reconstruct five bridges along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 80 and 10 bridges along a 25-mile section of Interstate 81.

“Pennsylvania’s Public-Private Partnership law, Act 88, gives us more flexibility to quickly tackle this regional bridge challenge in a way that will save money while giving us a high-quality outcome,” Leslie S. Richards, PennDOT’s secretary and P3 board chairwoman, said. “We have used P3 projects to great benefit, and this will be another example.”

Also during the meeting, the board heard updates on existing P3 projects.

PennDOT’s P3 Office and the P3 Board were established in 2012 in the Public-Private Transportation Partnerships Act.

The law allows transportation authorities to partner with private companies for transportation-related projects.