The Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation announced Friday afternoon that Pittsburgh’s fire-damaged Liberty Bridge will remain closed indefinitely as crews continue to repair 30 feet of a compression chord on a deck truss that was damaged in a Sept. 2 blaze. Earlier this week, PennDOT said that it hoped that the bridge that accommodates about 55,000 vehicles per day would be open by Monday. 

Click here to read more ENR coverage of the repair efforts. 

PennDOT said additional safety measures were identified and will require more time.  

“We are making excellent progress and working as quickly as we can, but we will not take short cuts to speed the process,” H. Daniel Cessna, district executive for PennDOT Engineering District 11-0, said in a statement. “We have brought in highly regarded national experts to validate our process and recommend additional safety measures.”
 
While the closure of the 88-year-old steel cantilever structure leading to the Liberty Tunnels has snarled traffic for days, crews have inspected the damaged chord and continue to do design work, analysis and installation work around the clock to complete this complicated repair.
 
Facing $213,000 per day in liquidated damages since the fire closed the bridge, contractor Joseph B. Fay Co. released a statement on Friday as well: “As a company, we are proactively investing considerable resources in outside experts and other assets to ensure that the repair is completed safely and swiftly.”