Design & Construction Details

Construction Schedule

Construction Update: Spring 2025

Deck Construction This Spring for New Hawk Falls Bridge

Spring 2025 – With steel components in place prior to a winter work hiatus, crews have returned this spring to resume construction of the superstructure of the new 720-foot Hawk Falls bridge, which spans the Mud Run gorge in Carbon County.

Ironworker crews are back placing steel deck pans (see above) that support the reinforcing steel. Other preparations are also underway for the eventual placement of the arch bridge’s concrete deck. All preliminary work needs to be completed prior to the start of deck placement because concrete will be placed in a “checkerboard” sequence to counterbalance.

Smaller cranes are now being used in lieu of the giant cranes that were used to erect the steel arches. These cranes, working from temporary timber mats, assist with moving materials into place as work progresses across the soaring new structure.

Pavement at the north end of the work zone – on a new alignment to accommodate the new structures – is in place (see above). As bridge work progresses in 2025, the approach pavement on both sides will be completed. 

The arch bridge and approach roadways are expected to be ready for traffic by mid-July. Northbound Turnpike travelers will then be shifted onto the new bridge and the northbound side of the adjacent new Hickory Run Road bridge (see below).

After the shift, the contractor will complete work on the southbound half of the Hickory Run structure. By late fall 2025, southbound Turnpike traffic will be shifted onto the new structures.

Demolition of the existing gorge bridge will then follow.

During the 2024 construction season, segments of the three arches that are the key feature of the new bridge were erected, and the remaining structural steel components were assembled high over the gorge.

Excavation and preparation of foundations and supports for the new bridge started in the spring of 2021.

The new arch bridge will be 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 entire project, with a construction cost of $88 million in toll-supported funds, is anticipated to be done by fall 2026 following completion of punch-list and other relatively minor construction activities.

Project Map

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