Design

Category 2 - Urban Highways: Surface Streets

Honorable Mention

State Route 8, Mae West Bend Project
Etna Borough and Shaler Township, Pennsylvania

The Mae West Bend Project improved a sharp bend on Route 8 in Etna, PA. Due to its urban setting, the contractor was presented with a number of design and construction challenges including the restriction of blasting and realigning a road between a 100-foot high rock slope and a trout-stocked recreational stream in a commercial setting. Using a T-Wall (an interlocking retaining wall system), the contractor was able to minimize cost and time. This project met or exceeded all of PennDOT’s needs, which included improving safety and congestion through the corridor and providing a low maintenance section of roadway connecting Route 28 to Route 8 by upgrading signals; constructing durable concrete pavement and a new drainage system; and implementing storm water management facilities to help control runoff in an already flood prone area—all while employing a context-sensitive design.

Designer: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bridgeville, PA
Contractor: Mascaro Contracting, L.P., Pittsburgh, PA
Owner: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bridgeville, PA