Steve Malesker recently joined HRG as a senior project manager in our Transportation Group. He is responsible for bridge design and inspection projects throughout the south-central counties of Pennsylvania.
Steve has extensive experience managing bridge inspection, replacement, and maintenance programs for York and Franklin Counties as well as Gettysburg Borough and many other municipalities. Steve has also served as a project manager for civil and municipal projects and as the retained municipal and bridge engineer of record for several municipalities in Central PA. He is a licensed professional engineer and certified bridge safety inspector with more than 20 years of experience.
Steve lives in Dallastown and is a board member of the Dallastown-Yoe Water Authority. He is also a member of the Association for Bridge Construction and Design and the American Institute of Steel Construction.
“Steve is a talented and accomplished engineer, and his skills will be a great asset as we continue to grow our presence in the transportation markets across the commonwealth,” Tim Staub said. Staub is an assistant vice president of HRG and manager of the firm’s York office.
Bill Kick agrees. “Most importantly, Steve fits right into the culture of HRG. Integrity and commitment to delivering for our clients are core values for HRG, and for Steve. His knowledge and experience are impressive. I fully trust that Steve will be a great compliment to our team and serve HRG’s clients well.” Kick is an assistant vice president and manager of HRG’s Chambersburg office.
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is a nationally ranked design firm providing civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The firm was founded in Harrisburg in 1962 and has grown to employ more than 250 people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit the website at www.hrg-inc.com
The HRG team was all-smiles yesterday, as we celebrated the opening of Orrs Bridge. This structure is a vital connection in the transportation network of Pennsylvania’s fastest growing county, and we’re excited to see the vision we worked on with local officials and community members come to life. Nearly 10,000 vehicles crossed the previous bridge daily to get from their homes to businesses along Carlisle Pike and Wertzville Road, but the aging structure was deteriorating rapidly. Weight restrictions limited the ability of emergency vehicles ands school buses to access nearby homes, and curves on either side of the alignment created sight distance issues for drivers entering and exiting the bridge. HRG designed a new structure with wider lanes and ADA-accessible sidewalk to improve pedestrian access. We also created a new alignment for the bridge that vastly improves safety for drivers. It combines the curves on both roadway approaches into one continuous curve. Thank you to Cumberland County for the opportunity to work with you on this project, and thank you to all of the people whose contributions made this effort a success!
Click through the photo album above to see a few highlights from the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Featured_Orrs-Bridge-Ribbon-Cutting.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2020-09-22 18:31:472020-09-22 18:31:47Orrs Bridge is Open to the Public
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Featured_Bridge-Management-Systems.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2019-05-29 12:53:562023-01-23 20:37:42Bridge Management Systems: Safer Bridges with a Longer Lifespan at a Reduced Cost
Cumberland County has been recognized with a Road & Bridge Safety Award for the Craighead Bridge replacement project. The award is given jointly each year by the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, and PennDOT to the best road and bridge safety improvement projects undertaken by county governments across the state.
The county’s director of planning, Kirk Stoner, accepted the award on behalf of the commissioners at the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Conference in Gettysburg yesterday.
(From left) Jason W. Wagner, Managing Director, Pennsylvania Highway Information Association; Brian D. Emberg, Sr. Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Herbert Roland and Grubic, Inc.; Kirk Stoner, AICP, Director of Planning, Cumberland County; Fred Thompson, Vice President, Kinsley Construction; Phil Royer, Estimator/Project Manager, Kinsley Construction; James D. Ritzman, PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Planning; and County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania President and Lancaster County Commissioner Dennis Stuckey.
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. designed the replacement bridge for Cumberland County, which improves safety for local residents in several ways:
The new bridge is stronger and replaces one with more than 100 years of wear and tear.
The new bridge can safely carry two lanes of traffic, where the previous bridge could only carry one.
Back-ups and rear-end collisions had occurred frequently at the original bridge and have been eliminated by the new bridge.
The replacement bridge was built on a new alignment that gives drivers a better view of oncoming traffic.
The new bridge has a flared intersection where Zion Road meets Old York Road. This makes it easier for drivers to turn onto and off of the bridge.
The new bridge has no weight restrictions, and its improved sight distance and turning radii make it easier for emergency vehicles, school buses, and delivery trucks to reach local residents.
The original Craighead Bridge held a special place in the heart of the community and is even featured on the South Middleton Township seal. The county struck a deal with a non-profit organization to preserve the original bridge for bike and pedestrian use, so that future generations can continue to connect with this historic fixture along the Yellow Breeches creek. Local residents get the safety and convenience of a modern bridge while preserving the charm and memories of the original bridge.
Original Bridge
New Bridge
ABOUT CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Cumberland County is the fastest growing county in the Commonwealth and offers the perfect mix of small town,
suburban and rural living. Established in 1750, Cumberland County consistently maintains one of the lowest tax
and unemployment rates in the State, while providing exceptional services for its more than 250,000 residents. More
information on Cumberland County can be found at www.ccpa.net
ABOUT HRG
HRG is a nationally ranked Top 500 Design Firm, providing civil engineering, surveying and environmental services to public and private sector clients. The 200-person employee-owned firm currently has office locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit the website at www.hrg-inc.com.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Featured_Craighead-Bridge.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-08-09 11:47:152018-08-15 14:57:52Cumberland County Receives Safety Award for Craighead Bridge
We regularly hear about the condition of infrastructure in the United States, and many times the news is bad. Too often we hear about underground pipes breaking, roads crumbling, and bridges that need to be closed. Fortunately, in Londonderry Township, bridge conditions are actually pretty good.
Londonderry Township is specifically responsible for 13 bridges, all of which cross waterways and are less than 20’ in length. Closing any one of these bridges for safety concerns could cause a significant disruption to emergency access and general traffic flow. To avoid this, Londonderry Township asked HRG to assess all 13 structures and prioritize their maintenance and replacement needs. Our evaluation indicated that all 13 bridges were likely more than 50 years old, and six of them should be replaced within the next 3 – 10 years.
HRG worked with the township to create an approach to address this pressing infrastructure need without overburdening the township’s annual budget. The initial concept was to replace one bridge every other year for the six most critical structures. This would allow us to address the township’s most urgent needs without being forced into an emergency situation. It would also allow us to identify alternative funding for each bridge replacement and carefully plan any necessary road closures to minimize traffic interruption.
Londonderry’s program is a perfect example of infrastructure asset management and capital improvement planning. HRG has written extensively about the benefits of asset management and capital improvement planning. Essentially, a proactive approach to identifying infrastructure needs, prioritizing those needs, and planning for the necessary funding produces better infrastructure at a lower lifetime cost.
Thanks to this forward-looking approach, Londonderry Township is about to replace the last of the original six critical structures: a bridge on Swatara Creek Road. This project is funded through the partial use of a Dauphin County Local Share Gaming Grant.
Three bridges were replaced in 2016: one each on Beagle, Braeburn, and Hollendale Roads. The township bundled these bridges into one project and used extremely favorable funding from the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank. The first two bridges were replaced in 2012. Only one – on Round Top Road, was planned, but a second bridge on Foxianna Road required replacement after flooding from Tropical Storm Lee undermined the bridge. Fortunately, because of the emergency nature of the bridge replacement, the township was able to use federal disaster relief funding.
With the replacement of the six most critical bridge structures complete, the township will be able to focus on regular maintenance of the remaining seven structures to extend their useful life as long as possible. A proactive approach to maintenance like this means better driving conditions for township drivers over a longer period of time. The bridges will last longer, and the need for replacement will be delayed. This will save the township hundreds of thousands of dollars over time. (See an illustration of how this works with actual budget dollars in our article Better Roads for Less Money with Asset Management.)
The upkeep of bridges can seem like a daunting and expensive task, but it’s actually fairly simple if communities take a proactive approach. Consistent inspections to identify deterioration, regular maintenance to avoid worsening problems, and advanced planning for eventual replacement all combine to simplify bridge upkeep and ensure it remains affordable.
When it does come time for Londonderry Township to replace one of its structures, they will use the same judicial approach to ensure the infrastructure needs of the township are met in an economical manner.
(A version of this article originally appeared in the Londonderry Township newsletter.)
Andrew Kenworthy, P.E., is the eastern region vice president of HRG. He has more than 25 years of experience in municipal engineering and land development/site design.
This article about the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank is excerpted from the February 2018 issue of Pennsylvania County News magazine. It is provided courtesy of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) and is reprinted here with their permission. This is in no way an endorsement by CCAP of the products or services offered by HRG.
What would you do with an extra $350,000 per year in your county Liquid Fuels budget?
It sounds like a nice problem to have, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly the challenge Dauphin County faced six years ago as its aggressive bridge management program reached a very important milestone: The last load-posted, structurally deficient bridge in the county’s inventory was fully programmed to be replaced.
This video tells the story of the last structurally deficient bridge in Dauphin County. Once the county funded the replacement of this bridge, it had a surplus of Liquid Fuels money in its budget. They decided to use this surplus as seed money for an infrastructure bank that has funded more than a dozen roadway, traffic and bridge improvements throughout the county in just a few years. (Learn more about the county’s last structurally deficient bridge in this profile.)
For almost 30 years, the county had patiently and strategically planned the rehabilitation or replacement of 51 bridges. Close to 1/3 of its county-wide inventory had been structurally deficient at the time they embarked on this effort in 1984.
Now that hard work and determination was about to pay off. The county could drastically reduce its spending on bridge capital improvements by shifting from a replacement phase to a maintenance phase.
The county’s engineer, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG), analyzed what investments would be necessary to proactively maintain the bridges and determined that the county would have an annual surplus of approximately $350,000 in Liquid Fuels funding beyond what was needed for maintenance expenses.
County commissioner Jeff Haste wanted to make sure the money was used wisely: “The county’s bridge management program had delivered tremendous value to our residents, drastically improving the safety and efficiency of our transportation system for drivers. We wanted to use this money to deliver even more value.”
County Commissioners Haste, Pries and Hartwick wanted to maximize the benefit of these surplus dollars for county residents. The infrastructure bank approach has allowed them to fund more than $11 million in improvements with an initial investment of $1 million.
Haste and his fellow commissioners, Mike Pries and George P. Hartwick, III, were thinking big, but regulatory requirements threatened to make the impact of this money small.
“Because of the forced distribution procedure associated with Liquid Fuels funding,” Haste explained, “the county had to come up with a use for this money or disburse it evenly to all 40 of our member municipalities.”
On average, each municipality would’ve received less than $10,000, which is too small a sum to do anything more significant that buy a little extra road salt for the winter.
Yet, even if the county used the entire $350,000 surplus itself, they wouldn’t be able to cover the cost of even one small capital improvement like a single-span bridge replacement (which typically costs between $500,000 to $1 million).
Haste, Pries and Hartwick wanted to have a larger impact, so they asked county staff to collaborate on a solution with the engineer who’d designed the successful bridge management program in the first place.
Together, they came up with an innovative program in which the county would use this annual Liquid Fuels surplus to dramatically reduce the cost of infrastructure improvements for local municipalities.
How the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank Works
The Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank offers loans to municipalities (or private sector companies) to design and construct local roadway, bridge and traffic improvements – at unbeatably low interest rates. Municipalities can borrow money for as little as 0.5% interest. (Private sector borrowers pay a 1% interest rate.)
As an added bonus, Dauphin County provides loan recipients with optional engineering design support. This is very beneficial to smaller municipalities who have never completed a large capital improvement project before and may not know how to navigate the complicated state and federal requirements these projects must meet. An experienced consultant can save these municipalities from costly and time-consuming mistakes and re-work.
But, if $350,000 wasn’t enough money for the county to complete one major capital improvement project on its own, how can it use that money to fund multiple projects by its municipalities?
The power of partnerships.
Dauphin County multiplies the value of its $350,000 investment by combining it with additional funding from Pennsylvania’s state infrastructure bank.
Essentially, the county uses its Liquid Fuels surplus to make it more affordable for municipalities and private sector organizations to borrow money from the state by paying a portion of their interest. Interest on Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank loans can vary, but it is currently 2.125% at the time this article is being written.
A municipality could borrow funds directly from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank at an interest rate of just over 2%, or it could borrow from Dauphin County, and the county would pay approximately 75% of the interest expenses.
The following diagram shows exactly how the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank funds its projects:
It is a self-renewing process. As municipalities or private sector organizations repay their loan to the county infrastructure bank, the county repays PennDOT. Once the debt is satisfied, the county has the ability to issue new loans to other municipalities or private sector companies.
For some municipalities, the cost savings provided by an infrastructure bank loan can be the difference between being able to move forward with a project at all or having to postpone it a few more years.
In the first three years of the infrastructure bank program, Dauphin County multiplied close to $1 million in Liquid Fuels funding into $11 million worth of improvements to the local transportation system: 7 bridges, one traffic signal, one streetscape, and one intersection improvement.
“This is the kind of dramatic impact we were hoping to have,” says Pries, who oversees Dauphin County’s Community and Economic Development Department.
“The success of our bridge program and the creation of the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank has allowed us to help residents without the need to raise property taxes. Unlike many other parts of the country, our residents don’t have to worry about crumbling bridges and road networks.”
Read more about the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank, the benefits of implementing an infrastructure bank in your county, and other counties that are considering a program of their own in the February 2018 issue of Pennsylvania County News.
Brian Emberg, P.E., is senior vice president and chief technical officer of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG). He helped design Dauphin County’s bridge management system and worked with the county to develop the Dauphin County Infrastructure Bank. He has more than 30 years of experience designing roadways and bridges and is particularly skilled in creating unique funding solutions to help local governments accomplish their infrastructure goals with limited revenue. You can contact Brian by phone at (717) 564-1121 or by email at bemberg@hrg-inc.com
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Duke-Street_after.png630843Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-02-08 13:33:262023-01-23 20:53:36How Dauphin County Has Turned a Small Surplus Into Major Infrastructure Improvements
Wider bridge improves access for emergency vehicles and pedestrians while reducing the likelihood of car accidents
The Duke Street Bridge replacement has been honored with a Road & Bridge Safety Award from the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, and PennDOT.
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. designed the project for Dauphin County, which improves safety for local residents in several ways:
It improves emergency access for residents who live near the bridge. The original Duke Street Bridge couldn’t carry vehicles weighing more than 3 tons, which meant most of the vehicles operated by the Hummelstown Borough Fire Company and Union Deposit Fire Company couldn’t use the bridge. The new bridge has no weight restrictions, and emergency vehicles can safely cross it (as shown in the attached photo).
It safely accommodates two lanes of traffic, whereas the original Duke Street Bridge was only wide enough for one lane of traffic at a time.
It makes it safer for drivers to turn onto South Hoernerstown Road from North Duke Street, thanks to increased intersection radii. Previously drivers of large vehicles turning right onto South Hoernerstown Road from Duke Street would cross into the opposing lane. Limited sight distance at this location meant that opposing traffic could not see these vehicles crossing over into their lane with optimum time to react. The new wider intersection will drastically reduce the likelihood of accidents at this location in the future.
It provides a new sidewalk. The previous Duke Street Bridge had no existing sidewalk; accordingly, pedestrians would often walk in the roadway lanes to cross from one municipality to the other. The new bridge includes a sidewalk that will enhance safety for pedestrians trying to access the United Water Trailhead and Swatara Creek Trail.
ABOUT HRG
Founded in 1962, HRG has grown to be a nationally ranked Top 500 Design Firm, providing civil engineering, surveying and environmental services to public and private sector clients. The 200-person employee-owned firm currently has office locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit the website at www.hrg-inc.com.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/DukeStreetVideo-PR.png548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2017-09-01 10:27:422017-09-05 13:58:09Duke Street Bridge Honored with Safety Award
Steve Malesker recently joined HRG as a senior project manager in our Transportation Group. He is responsible for bridge design and inspection projects throughout the south-central counties of Pennsylvania.
