13606 | Hulmeville Avenue Bridge Over Conrail (Middletown Township, Bucks County)

The project consists of the replacement of the existing Hulmeville Avenue bridge. The bridge carries two lanes of traffic over three tracks of the former Reading Railroad that is now operated by CSX. The existing bridge is being replaced along the existing horizontal alignment and approximate vertical alignment with minimal approach work. The existing span arrangement will be maintained due to the location of the existing railroad facilities. It should be noted that this span arrangement may be revised during the detailed design phase due to discussions between CSX and SEPTA to provide four (4) tracks throughout the project area. An understanding between the parties is that any overhead bridge replacement must accommodate an additional track.
The substructure units will be comprised of reinforced concrete stub abutments with reinforced multi-column pier bents with crash walls.
The replaced bridge will consist of a three-span continuous prestressed composite concrete adjacent box beams structure supporting a reinforced concrete deck. This structure type provides the minimum superstructure depth so that the required vertical clearance could be maintained without significant impacts to the profile of Hulmeville Avenue. The proposed typical section across the bridge consists of two 12-foot wide travel lanes with 4-foot wide shoulders on both sides flanked by concrete parapet walls with metal protective barrier mounted to the top of the parapets along the middle span. In light of PennDOT’s policy of not providing sidewalks on bridges where there are no approach sidewalks, no sidewalks are proposed on the structure for pedestrian access. There will be 144 feet of approach roadway work on the north side including the intersection of Hulmeville Avenue with Comly Avenue and 264.6 feet on the south side of the structure to meet the existing pavement conditions. The 4-foot shoulder is maintained to meet the existing conditions in the southerly direction and extended fully to Comly Avenue north of the bridge. Guide rail is proposed at the approaches extending from the end of wingwalls to Comly Avenue on the north side and to the entrance way of the commercial establishments at the southern quadrants.
A final alternative for bridge rehabilitation or replacement is determined upon federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or state Categorical Exclusion clearance.

No milestones are available for this project.