Southern Beltway Turnpike Road Improvements

DLZ was selected to provide material testing for the Southern Beltway Turkpike 576 Morganza/Morgan Road Improvements project. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission installed a new 13-mile roadway, Turnpike 576 from US Route 22 to I-79. Section 55C2-2 is the southern half of the connection of Turnpike 576 and I-79. It is approximately 1 mile in length and required over 750,000 CY of excavation. The project upgraded the alignment for Morganza Road, including a roundabout where Morgan Road connected to Baker Road, as well as cul-de-sacs for maintaining access to residents. The project realigned Morgan Road to include 2 overpass bridges (#286) above the existing I-79 and (#288) over the new Turnpike.

DLZ performed third-party material testing for multiple contractors throughout section 55C2-2 of the Southern Beltway over the 3-year project. DLZ performed testing at the time of placement and included density testing of backfill and asphalt concrete materials as well as structural concrete. DLZ personnel tested concrete for slump, air content, temperature and compressive strength. DLZ casted specimens in the field following ACI and PennDOT standards. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission observed DLZ personnel perform compressive strength testing in the DLZ laboratory. DLZ also collected in-situ concrete core samples from select locations using a diamond bit coring machine to confirm compressive strength.