Biden Touts Infrastructure Law At Rebuilt Pittsburgh Bridge Site

PITTSBURGH, PA — President Joe Biden was on the scene nine months ago the day the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed and became a national symbol of America's crumbling infrastructure. He returned to Pittsburgh Thursday to see a nearly completed replacement bridge and tout the benefits of his bipartisan infrastructure law.

"When I was here in January, I told the governor we would help rebuild this bridge as fast as we could," Biden said, standing near the site where tons of concrete collapsed in January.

The bridge, Biden said, "will be open by Christmas, God willing, and I'm coming back to walk over this sucker."

The 447-foot-long Fern Hollow span fell approximately 100 feet into the park early in the morning of Jan. 28. Ten people were injured and a Pittsburgh Rapid Transit bus and five other
vehicles were damaged in the incident.

The bridge site looks remarkably different now than it did then.

Substructure and superstructure work have been completed on the new span, and concrete deck placement work is expected to conclude by late October. Bridge barrier installation, the completion of abutment and wingwalls, and roadway tie-ins to the bridge are anticipated to be
finished by late December to allow the bridge to open to a single-lane of bi-directional traffic while work continues into early 2023.

Signed into law by Biden in November 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law permitted PennDOT to quickly dedicate $25.3 million in federal funds to the Fern Hollow project without impacting other crucial regional needs. But that didn't come at the expense of other vital projects. Pennsylvania is receiving $5.2 billion in federal money under the law to help fix its crumbling bridges and roads, Biden said.

Biden was joined at the bridge site by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee; Sen. Bob Casey; U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle and Gov. Tom Wolf.

“This is the power of federal infrastructure investments in Pennsylvania," Wolf said. "At the site of a tragedy that took place less than 8 months ago, we now have a bridge that is nearing completion. Those federal dollars will also help us speed up other repair and replacement
projects across the commonwealth, so we can keep more Pennsylvanians safer, support more union jobs, and ensure that Pennsylvania’s infrastructure can stand up to our 21st century needs."