Traffic | EASTBALTCO.COM

County Explains Delay for Joppa RD Bridge

Bridge Now Set to Open October

The Joppa Road Bridge near Honeygo Elementary School in Perry Hall has been closed since January.

Baltimore County Councilman David Marks shared an email from the Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation about the Joppa Road bridge, and why it is taking so long.

According to the email, the Joppa Road Bridge is now scheduled to reopen in October

“Councilman Marks,

I’ve had a lot of internal conversations with DPWT on the bridge that is currently closed on Joppa Road by Honeygo Elementary School. The bridge was closed in January 2021 because the center portion of the bridge had delaminated (the concrete outer cover was coming loose from the structure) and it was determined the structure in the center could no longer carry the minimum moving load of typical cars/truck traffic.

“The center portion of the bridge was built around 1920, the ends around 1940. The County had no existing plans on the structural design. Once the bridge was closed, the County was able to deconstruct the outer concrete in order to see the structure and re-engineer from there. This also required surveys and testing. That re-engineering has been going on behind the scenes and is not easily viewable by the public.

“When the bridge was closed the best case scenario on timeline was released publicly. In hindsight the DPWT team should have put float in the schedule to allow for unforeseen conditions.

“Attached are two images that help highlight the technical design complications with this bridge that were not evident until the testing, which couldn’t be done until the bridge was closed.

“Typical Bridge 210727” – note the 2 straight tension rods that are marked on the plan. These create even/equal sections of structure between them for the whole length of the bridge. This makes for a copy and paste for the design engineer once they design 1 section.

“Joppa Road Bridge B0545- 210727” – note the quantity of ‘dashed lines’ these are the tension rods needed for the geometry of the Joppa Road bridge due to the ‘kink’ circled on the plans. This means each of these rods needed a design and each section between rods needs a design, there is very little copy
/paste. This took longer to engineer before the plans can be given to a pre-caster to form the bridge sections.

“In order to expedite, this the design was done in house, instead of adding time for proposals from design firms, procurement of contracts, this saved at least 3 months. The plans are finishing up today and being released to the on-call precast contractor. The contractor needs to have the materials made, delivered and installed.

“Given the significant design effort that was unknown at the time of bridge closure the new timeline is reopening of the bridge in October 2021. The Countys website is being updated to reflect this information.

“Thanks for your patience and concern for the safety of our roads!”

Mark said he is frustrated with the ongoing process of this bridge and the delays to reopen.

“I recognize this is a major inconvenience for motorists. My parents live a half-mile from this bridge,” Marks said.

“While there are special circumstances that make this a difficult bridge to reconstruct, it’s unacceptable that the county did not recognize these structural issues earlier.”

I-95 Construction Starts Past White Marsh

The reconstruction of northbound I-95 from MD 43 to South of MD 152 is now underway.

As part of the Maryland Transportation Authority’s (MDTA) $1.1 billion program to relieve congestion and improve travel along the I-95 Corridor into Harford County, the MDTA is beginning preliminary work to widen northbound I-95 between MD 43 (White Marsh Boulevard) and MD 152 (Mountain Road) to make way for the extension of two northbound Express Toll Lanes.

The existing travel lanes have been shifted to the left towards the median area. Traffic barrier is being installed along the right shoulder to separate traffic from construction activities. All northbound travel lanes will be maintained during peak travel periods.

The barrier separation provides a safe work zone for construction workers to perform the roadway widening. Motorists should expect delays when traveling through the work zone. Please obey all speed limits and be alert so no one gets hurt. For more information, visit mdta.Maryland.gov/I95ETLNB/home.html.

Watermain Break Reported in Dundalk

– photo courtesy of Eastbaltco.com-

The Baltimore County Emergency Management Twitter page reported a large watermain break in Dundalk at Ashwood Road and North Point Road near the corner of Drug City Pharmacy on Monday, July 19 before 1 p.m.

Baltimore County Police shut down a portion of Ashwood Road due to large amounts of water.

Motorists are asked to seek an alternate driving route.

Vehicle Crashes into Sparrows Point House

-photo courtesy of NPEVFD-

The North Point Edgemere Volunteer Fire Company responded to an overnight vehicle crash into a house at the corner of Lincoln & Waldman avenues in Sparrows Point house.

A telephone pole was also heavily damaged and caused power loss to the immediate area.

Two patients were transported with non life threatening injuries to an area hospital.

There was no reported structural damage to the home and BGE responded for their repairs.

The accident took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 11.

Driver Rescued Under Tractor Trailer on 95

The White Marsh Volunteer Fire Company reported that crews responded to a serious crash on I-95 between Cowenton Avenue & Joppa Road at 12:25 a.m. on Wednesday.

An unconscious driver was extricated from a vehicle that was trapped underneath a tractor trailer.

There was no more reported information the condition of the driver.

Marks Gives Update on Closed Joppa Road Bridge

Councilman David Marks released a statement that he received from Baltimore County on the replacement of the Joppa Road Bridge near Honeygo Elementary School.

The bridge has been closed since January and drivers have been rerouted to Ebenezer Road to drive from Belair Road to Honeygo Boulevard.

Here is the statement from Baltimore County:

“Wereconstruction of Bridge No. B-0545 on Joppa Road, however the actual re-opening may not take place until August. The extended duration is due to workload constraints, labor and material availability and a more complicated design than originally anticipated.

Our bridge maintenance contractor will be remobilizing at the site this week to begin constructing the new cast-in-place concrete abutment caps (top portions of the abutments). This operation should take between 2 to 3 weeks to complete.
Concurrently we are finalizing the engineering plans for the replacement superstructure (top portions of the bridge that spans between the abutment supports). The superstructure will be made of precast concrete slabs which are the most efficient and economic choice for this bridge. Due to the asymmetric orientation of the existing abutments several different size precast concrete slabs need to be design and detailed. Typically on these types of superstructures only one interior and one exterior slab design/details are needed.

We have placed a high priority on completing this project. Should you have any further questions please advise us.”

SHA to Repave Broening Hwy & Belclare in Dundalk

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) will begin milling and resurfacing MD 695A (Broening Highway) at Belclare Road in the Dundalk area of Baltimore County starting on Thursday, June 24. Crews will work overnight weeknights through the morning of Friday, July 2.

Each night, Belclare Road at Broening Highway will be closed and detoured between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. the next morning. Crews will use temporary digital message boards, traffic signs, barrels and cones to direct traffic using a detour route via Dundalk Avenue and Dunhill Road.

Broening Highway will remain open to traffic at night with a temporary single lane closure. All other side-street access along Broening Highway will be open during the overnight work hours.

In case of inclement weather, the overnight daytime intersection work and detour will take place the next possible day. MDOT SHA’s contractor, P. Flanigan and Sons, Inc. of Baltimore, is performing the work.

The pavement milling and resurfacing work is part of an ongoing $3 million MDOT SHA project to improve 1.3 miles of Broening Highway, in coordination with MDOT Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA). The project began fall 2020 and will be complete late summer 2021, weather permitting.
MDOT SHA works hard to maintain safe traffic mobility in work zones for our crews as well as our customers. Drivers need to stay alert, focus on driving and, look for reduced speed limits, as well as other driving pattern changes. Drive like you work here and slow down in construction zones.