Design & Construction Details

Construction Schedule

Construction Update: Fall 2025

Hawk Falls Bridge Deck Construction Nearing Completion

Fall 2025 – This fall, the Turnpike’s contractor will put the finishing touches on the new, 720-foot Hawk Falls Bridge that carries the Northeast Extension (I-476) over the Mud Run Gorge at milepost A88.6 in Carbon County under the Commission’s $88 million toll-funded project.

Northbound I-476 traffic was shifted onto new roadway this summer and are traveling on the substantially completed northbound side of the Hawk Falls Bridge. The right shoulder on the Hawk Falls bridge will remain closed until the parapet is completed, scheduled for the end of October. Northbound travelers will remain in this alignment until all project work is completed.  

Northbound traffic is also traveling on the new bridge carrying the Extension over Hickory Run Road (Route 534). That made it possible to complete the demolition of the northbound side of the Hickory Run Road Bridge this summer, allowing workers to begin construction of the new southbound bridge and making more roadway work available. The contractor expects this construction to be completed in spring 2026, when southbound Turnpike traffic will be shifted onto the new structures.

The contractor will need one more season to complete the new roadway alignment, demolish the old Hawk Falls Bridge, and get traffic into its permanent configuration.  Periodic lane restrictions and reduced speed limits will remain in effect until that time.   

The new arch bridge is four lanes wide with six-foot medians and 12-foot shoulders. It will replace the existing 738-foot-long truss bridge that is nearing the end of its design service life and is considered functionally obsolete due to a lack of shoulders.

The new bridge over Hickory Run Road (Route 534) will replace the existing three-span bridge with a one-span structure, providing a more open feel for travelers on the surface road below.

The Trumbull Corp. is the Turnpike’s general contractor for this project.

Project Map

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Project Photo Album