Construction & Materials
Innovative Collaboration Leads to Swift Reopening of Somerset County Bridge
On May 16, 2025, two days after the bridge was closed, demolition began on the 102-year-old bridge.
“The remarkable turnaround, from closure to reopening in just 10 days, is truly amazing.”
That’s how PennDOT Engineering District 9 Executive Vince Greenland, P.E., described the response to the closure and reopening of U.S. Route 219 in under two weeks in May 2025, following damage to a Somerset County bridge.
The success was the result of an innovative, unconventional, and highly effective collaboration that went beyond the standard partnering charter process.
On May 14, 2025, torrential rains caused extensive damage to the 102-year-old bridge in the village of Boynton in Elk Lick Township. Just two days later, PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll visited Somerset County where he and District 9 officials viewed the damage and laid out the department’s plan to quickly restore traffic flow by early June.
A partnering team, comprised of PennDOT District 9 engineers, transportation design firm GFT Infrastructure, Inc., construction firm Merlo, Inc., and bridge design and engineering firm Acrow Bridge, was immediately assembled to develop a resolution.
The quick response and determination of the team resulted in the construction of a modular steel bridge 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, and the reopening of the important route just 10 days later in time for the heavy Memorial Day weekend traffic.
“The accomplishment encompassed every aspect of District 9’s extensive operations, from the initial response to planning and design, gaining the necessary approvals, and construction,” Greenland said. “It was a true team effort that required all three of District 9’s divisions, as well as our design and construction firms working together to accomplish this goal.”
The reopening garnered attention and accolades across Pennsylvania, reinforcing PennDOT’s commitment to safe, efficient service in any situation.
Hidden in southern Somerset County, Boynton has a population of under 150, and is dissected by the narrow two-lane portion of U.S. Route 219. The road and bridge carry around 4,700 cars a day, including emergency vehicles, school buses and commercial traffic. Closing the bridge and enforcing lengthy detours – 49 miles for trucks – for an extended period of time would have had dramatic safety and economic impacts.
While less traveled compared to Interstate 95 in Philadelphia or Interstate 376 in Pittsburgh, the two-lane road was given the same attention and sense of urgency as any other state route.
On May 24, 2025, just 10 days after the Boynton Bridge failure, U.S. 219 reopened to traffic in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Image Credit: ©Acrow Bridge 2025
"When I visited the bridge, we said the goal was to quickly get people and local commerce moving through here again," Carroll said. "PennDOT's priority and our charge from Governor Shapiro is to help our communities and restore travel as quickly as possible. I'm proud that the department was as responsive and effective in restoring traffic on U.S. Route 219 in Somerset County as we would be with any road, with any bridge, in any county in the state."
U.S. Route 219 is vital to the region, so much so that plans are currently underway to begin a six-mile bypass of the two-lane section in 2028 and extend the four-lane highway to 73 miles, from the Maryland border to northern Cambria County.
As for the Boynton bridge, PennDOT is developing a timetable for the construction of a permanent replacement.
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