PennDOT
SR61 Reinforced Concrete Arch Bridge Rehabilitation (E04397)
Hamburg, PA
Load rating analyses for the reinforced concrete open spandrel arch spans and fatigue testing on the approach steel stringer spans with partial-length cover plates.
Our Work
Projects
A public portfolio of bridge design, rehabilitation, evaluation, and testing work across the region.
Specialty Engineering, Inc. has delivered bridge design, rehabilitation, evaluation, inspection, and testing services on some of the region’s most demanding structures — from the Walt Whitman Suspension Bridge to the 58-span Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange. The project experience below is organized by practice area.
PennDOT PA Turnpike Commission
DRPA NJDOT
Amtrak City of Philadelphia
3,000+
NBIS bridge inspections for PennDOT Districts 2–8
58
Spans rehabilitated at the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange
24/7
Remote structural health monitoring on landmark bridges
3
Consecutive PA Turnpike tunnel inspection cycles
01 · Design
Bridge Design & Rehabilitation
From replacement design of highly skewed steel structures to the rehabilitation of century-old masonry and concrete arches, our design portfolio spans the full range of highway and railroad bridge types.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
New Falls Road Bridge Replacement, I-95/I-276 Interchange
Bucks County, PA
Replacement design of the existing single-span bridge with a two-span continuous steel bridge on highly skewed supports, using refined analyses.
PennDOT
Chestnut Street & Market Street Bridge Rehabilitation (E00660)
Philadelphia, PA
Rehabilitation design of the Chestnut Street masonry arch bridge over the CSX tracks (76-ft clear span) and the masonry arch bridge over 24th Street, plus load ratings for the Market Street Bridge — a three-hinged steel arch over the Schuylkill River.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 BRI — Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange Rehabilitation
Philadelphia, PA
Rehabilitation of the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange ramps, including 58 spans. The existing curved-girder structures were rated using the BSDI 3-D system for rehabilitation.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Passyunk Avenue Bascule Bridge, SR3019 Section PDB (E00147)
Philadelphia, PA
Structural rehabilitation of the Passyunk Avenue bascule bridge over the Schuylkill River in the City of Philadelphia.
City of Philadelphia
South Street Bridge No. 11B Replacement
Philadelphia, PA
Replacement design for the bridge over SEPTA and under CSX tracks — the existing three-span structure was replaced with a two-span steel structure.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 CAS — Commodore Barry Bridge Ramp Design
Chester, PA
Design of one of the two ramps connecting the Commodore Barry Bridge to the Chester City waterfront — roughly 1,000 feet of curved girder spans.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-76 Schuylkill Expressway, Section PBP
Philadelphia, PA
In-depth inspection and rehabilitation design for the main spans over the Schuylkill River and the south approach viaduct — 25 spans in total.
PennDOT
I-95 Restoration (RES) Program
Philadelphia, PA
Overall management of bridge inspection activities and as-inspected ratings for the entire project team across six bridges and two viaducts, plus seismic design, ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing, concrete coring, strain gaging, and load and fatigue testing consultation — including partial reconstruction design of the Allegheny Avenue and Bleigh Avenue bridges.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Tyburn Road Bridge Rehabilitation
Bucks County, PA
Superstructure replacement design for a three-span continuous steel bridge.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
I-276/I-95 Interchange, Section D — Ramp C Viaduct
Bucks County, PA
TS&L design for the five-span Ramp C viaduct — a two-span continuous curved steel girder unit and a three-span prestressed concrete unit — with approximately 4,200 feet of noise walls and 3,900 feet of retaining walls.
PennDOT, District 8-0
Mulberry Street Open Spandrel Arch Rehabilitation
Harrisburg, PA
In-depth inspection and analyses for this 16-span open spandrel arch bridge.
PennDOT, District 8-0
I-81 Overhead Bridge Preservation
Central PA
Inspection of five bridges and final design for one bridge preservation.
PennDOT, District 6-0
SR 1058, Section HAT
Southeastern PA
Preliminary design for a culvert extension and a single-span bridge, and final design for two single-span bridges.
02 · Analysis
Complex Bridge Evaluation
When conventional analysis is not enough, we bring in-house computer programs and 3-D finite element methods to curved, skewed, movable, and arch structures.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 CAS — Pier Cap Repair
Chester, PA
Design of a post-tensioning system to repair a pier cap damaged during construction.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 BRI — Curved Girder Evaluation
Philadelphia, PA
Design and seismic evaluation of the 58-span Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange ramps — largely curved-girder structures — using in-house computer programs and 3-D finite element methods.
NJDOT
Route 1&9 Vertical Lift Bridge over the Hackensack River
New Jersey
Engineering evaluation to resolve irregular seating problems on this vertical lift bridge.
PennDOT, District 5-0
Penn Street Bridge, Reading (E02384)
Reading, PA
Analyses of the reinforced concrete open spandrel (main) and closed spandrel (approach) arch spans for rehabilitation recommendations, and rehabilitation design for the nine closed spandrel arch spans.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Market & Chestnut Street Bridges (E00660)
Philadelphia, PA
Load rating and analyses for rehabilitation, including the Market Street steel arch over the Schuylkill River and the Chestnut Street masonry arch bridges.
PennDOT
Refined Load Ratings — 14 Steel Curved Girder Bridges (E02352, E02416)
Statewide, PA
Refined load ratings for fourteen steel curved girder bridges.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Chesapeake City Tied-Arch Bridge — Connection Fatigue Study
Chesapeake City, MD
3-D local finite element study of fatigue cracks at the floorbeam to tied-girder connection angles.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Milepost 312–319 Reconstruction — Bridge EB731
PA Turnpike
Final design for the Bridge EB731 replacement — a two-span continuous steel structure with highly skewed supports requiring refined analyses.
03 · Evaluation
Fatigue & Fracture Evaluation
We combine field testing, non-destructive evaluation, and finite element modeling to estimate remaining fatigue life and keep fracture-critical structures safely in service.
PennDOT
SR61 Arch Bridge Approach Spans (E04397)
Hamburg, PA
Fatigue testing and fatigue life estimation of the approach spans with partial-length cover plates.
PennDOT
I-95 BRI — Fracture-Critical Cross Girders
Philadelphia, PA
The 58-span interchange contains many transverse box cross girders that are fracture critical with fatigue-sensitive details — each detail was hands-on inspected and retrofitted where remaining fatigue life was low.
PennDOT
I-95 Restoration (RES) — Steel Viaduct Fatigue Testing
Philadelphia, PA
Ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing on a steel viaduct, verified against three days of continuous stress-range measurement, with the measured data reduced to estimate remaining fatigue life of the fatigue-sensitive details.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Chesapeake City Tied-Arch Bridge
Chesapeake City, MD
3-D local finite element study of fatigue cracking at the floorbeam to tied-girder connection angle.
PennDOT
Remote Monitoring of Cracked Fracture-Critical Components
Pennsylvania
Remote health monitoring and load modeling of cracked fracture-critical bridge components.
04 · Design
Seismic Design & Evaluation
Seismic design and retrofit evaluation for new and existing structures, from prestressed concrete stream crossings to complex curved interchange viaducts.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 BRI — Interchange Ramp Seismic Evaluation
Philadelphia, PA
Seismic evaluation of the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange ramps — many of them curved-girder structures — using 3-D finite element methods.
PennDOT, District 6-0
I-95 RES — Complex Viaduct Seismic Consultation
Philadelphia, PA
Seismic design consultation to the prime consultants on a complex viaduct structure.
PennDOT, District 5-0
Nescopeck Creek Bridge Seismic Design
Luzerne County, PA
Seismic design of this two-span continuous prestressed concrete bridge.
05 · Field Testing
Structural Testing & Health Monitoring
With in-house strain gaging capability — installation, data acquisition, reduction, and analysis — we diagnose finite element models, sharpen bridge ratings, and monitor landmark structures in real time.
DRPA · with HNTB & Qi
Walt Whitman Suspension Bridge Monitoring
Philadelphia, PA
Structural health monitoring of the links connecting the stiffening trusses to the towers: 24 strain gages, 8 tiltmeters, and 4 displacement gages collecting data remotely over a two-year period to determine whether the link pins are frozen by corrosion. An additional 16 strain gages, 4 accelerometers, and 2 noise meters monitor vibration and noise at the finger joint for a rehabilitation design study.
DRPA · with Pennoni
Commodore Barry Bridge Monitoring
Chester, PA
Instrumentation and monitoring to investigate the causes of cracking in zero-force truss members using strain gages and other devices.
PennDOT
SR61 Arch Bridge — Fatigue Instrumentation (E04397)
Hamburg, PA
Strain gages measuring stress-range cycles in the approach span to estimate fatigue life for the rehabilitation design.
Edwards & Kelcey, Inc.
Conrail Bridge 0.16 — Diagnostic Load Testing
South Amboy, NJ
Diagnostic load testing by strain gaging on a steel I-beam, concrete-encased bridge over an NJ Transit track — quantifying composite action, live-load distribution, skew effects, and the live-load impact factor.
06 · NBIS Programs
Bridge Inspection
More than 3,000 bridge inspections completed for PennDOT Districts 2–8 — county-wide NBIS programs, in-depth inspections, ratings, and statewide quality assurance.
PennDOT, District 5-0
Northampton, Lehigh & Berks Counties NBIS (E02416)
2012–2018
NBIS inspections and ratings for 150 bridge structures.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Philadelphia County NBIS (E00801, E01277)
2006–2012
NBIS inspections for 300 bridge structures, including the Penrose Bridge and the Passyunk Avenue bascule bridge.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Chester County NBIS
2005–2011
NBIS inspections for 200 bridge structures.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Montgomery County NBIS
2005–2017
NBIS inspections for 144 bridge structures across three consecutive cycles.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Delaware County NBIS
2005–2009
NBIS inspections for 60 bridge structures.
PennDOT, District 5-0
Berks County Local Bridges NBIS (E02829)
Berks County, PA
NBIS inspections of locally owned bridges in Berks County.
PennDOT, District 3-0
Northumberland County Local Bridges NBIS (E03240)
Northumberland County, PA
NBIS inspections of locally owned bridges in Northumberland County.
PennDOT
Statewide NBIS Bridge Inspections
2007–2008
NBIS inspections for 80 bridges in Districts 4 and 5.
PennDOT, District 8-0
In-Depth Inspection & Monitoring
2007–2008
In-depth inspections, ratings, and monitoring for 25 bridges.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Bucks County Structures Under 20 ft NBIS
2006–2007
NBIS inspections for 40 bridge and culvert structures using electronic forms.
PennDOT, District 6-0
Chester, Philadelphia & Delaware Counties Under 20 ft NBIS
Two cycles
NBIS inspections for 140 bridge and culvert structures.
PennDOT
Bridge Inspection Quality Assurance
2007–2019
NBIS inspection QA for District 8 (2013–2019) and for Districts 3, 4, 5, 6, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike (2007–2012).
07 · Specialty Inspection
Bridge & Tunnel Inspections
Beyond routine bridge work: tunnels, underwater structures, movable bridge machinery, sign structures, and railroad assets.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Turnpike Tunnel Inspections
Statewide, PA
Inspection of Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission tunnels across three consecutive inspection cycles.
PennDOT
Statewide Underwater Inspection
2007–2012
Supervising engineer for underwater inspections in Districts 11, 4, 5, and 6.
PennDOT
Movable Bridge Machinery Inspection
Philadelphia, PA
NBIS inspections of the machinery of the University Avenue and Passyunk Avenue movable bridges in the City of Philadelphia.
Amtrak
Special Detail Inspection
Philadelphia, PA & Wilmington, DE
Detailed inspections of three Amtrak bridges in Philadelphia and Wilmington.
PennDOT
Sign Structure Inspections — East Region
Districts 5 & 6
Inspection of 33 sign structures in District 5 and 113 sign structures in District 6.