Alternating lane closures will be on place this week on an Interstate 99 bridge in Centre County for crews to complete sealing of a concrete slab that buckled during extreme heat in June, according to PennDOT.
Final sealing work is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the bridge spanning Route 550 between mile markers 67.8 and 67.6 on I-99 southbound. The contractor hopes to complete work by 6 a.m. Thursday, but PennDOT noted that the schedule is weather-dependent.
One lane will remain open throughout the overnight hours.
“PennDOT urges motorists to exercise caution in this and all work zones, obey posted speed limit and work zone signage and always buckle up,” the department wrote in a news release on Monday.
The slab expanded and buckled on June 24 as temperatures climbed into the upper 90s. The most significant repair work was completed within three days.
Road buckling was a common occurrence throughout the northeast and midwest amid the heat wave in June. Roads are constructed to allow for expansion, but at higher temperatures they may not have enough space to continue expanding, The result is buckling, and older concrete pavements are most susceptible.
The I-99 bridge was one of two reported instances of road damage attributed to heat in Centre County this summer.
A section of Route 45 in Pine Grove Mills was damaged in early July after an asphalt bleed, which occurs when hot weather causes asphalt binder to soften and rise to the surface. Heavy equipment being used in a shoulder widening project then picked up aggregate because of the bleed, causing the damage and leaving uneven pavement and rough road conditions for about a mile eastbound from Ferguson Township Elementary, according to PennDOT.
The department has not yet announced a permanent repair solution for that damage, and it urged drivers to slow down in the area.
