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<p>PITTSTON TWP. &#8212; If you tried to drive on Route 315 in Pittston Township over the weekend, chances are you ran into a detour.</p><p>A section of Route 315 under Interstate 81, near WILK and KRZ Radio (Entercom), was closed this weekend as crews performed bridge work on two bridges &#8212; one southbound and one northbound. Flaggers were at both ends of the roadway to direct traffic around the closed roadway, and crews worked 24 hours a day in two separate shifts.</p><p>The road was initially scheduled to re-open at 7 a.m. Monday, but Phil Vitale, lead inspector for CMC Engineering, said workers were able to finish the work and have the roadway opened by 5 p.m. Sunday.</p><p>Project manager Patty Fritsky explained the weekend&#8217;s work was part of a complete replacement of the bridges that carry Interstate 81 traffic over Route 315.</p><p>&#8220;The existing structures were part of the original highway system,&#8221; she said, adding they were built in the early 1960s. &#8220;Their lifespan has pretty much been spent.&#8221;</p><p>Fritsky explained prep work last week involved clearing the concrete off the bridges. Over the weekend, she said, crews built temporary support structures for the existing beams.</p><p>&#8220;They have to be cut into manageable pieces, and then they will be lifted off the existing structure and then taken away,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That will then allow us to build new structure, and then a few months from now, build new beams and continue the process as it goes.&#8221;</p><p>The decision to close the roadway was actually a time-saving move.</p><p>Fritsky explained that similar work was conducted on the bridges near Oak Street. Instead of closing the road, traffic was maintained as crews worked at night.</p><p>&#8220;The same amount of work we did last weekend down here moving the concrete took us 30 days at that structure,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Even though it impacts traffic for a solid weekend, it eliminates impacting traffic with hour-long delays and hour-long stoppages, because you still would have to stop traffic at the key moments over the course of a whole month.&#8221;</p><p>On Friday, she said, crews put up &#8220;adequate signage&#8221; in and around the area to ensure motorists knew of the closure. Vitale said the signage and around-the-clock flaggers resulted in little traffic congestion.</p><p>&#8220;I thought it went pretty smooth,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Fritsky said the $27.5 million project, which includes replacing four bridges in the north and southbound lanes, is on schedule and on budget. Vitale explained the next step of the project is to demolish the bridge&#8217;s existing superstructure and replace it with a new one.</p><p>The project is expected to be completed sometime in fall 2017.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Traffic traveling on Route 315 under Interstate 81 Monday afternoon in Pittston Township flows unimpeded. That section of Route 315 was closed over much of the weekend with flagmen detouring traffic so crews could work on the overpass replacement project. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081815bridgework1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Traffic traveling on Route 315 under Interstate 81 Monday afternoon in Pittston Township flows unimpeded. That section of Route 315 was closed over much of the weekend with flagmen detouring traffic so crews could work on the overpass replacement project. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Project manager says shutting down Route 315 enabled work to be done quickly</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table class="mceItemTable" style="border:none;width:98%;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> XJgvvdgyCJg</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgvvdgyCJg</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> A section of Route 315 was closed over the weekend as crews performed bridge work on bridges carrying I-81 over Route 315.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Travis Kellar</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Route 315 closure in Pittston Township enabled crews to work on bridge replacement project