Delaware River Port Authority, Benjamin Franklin Bridge Track Rehabilitation

Delaware River Port Authority,  Benjamin Franklin Bridge Track Rehabilitation

Project Overview

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia and Camden, carries 100,000 vehicles and 35,000 rail commuters per day on its seven lanes, two railroad tracks and two walkways for pedestrians and bicyclists. So, when DRPA/PATCO had to implement two long-term continuous track outages for the first time in history, totaling 110 days for major track rehabilitation and reconstruction, strategic planning and cooperation were a top priority.

The project replaced the entire railroad infrastructure on the bridge, including replacement of the electrical, fiber optic and signals systems; extensive structural rehabilitation of bridge elements supporting the railroad tracks; rehabilitation of the underbridge at the PATCO rail yard in Camden; installation and removal of a temporary underbridge platform and temporary maintenance and projection of traffic.

The entire 30-year-old track system was removed and more than 13,500 feet of continuous welded rail and 9,000 new timber ties were installed.  There were two scheduled track outages during the duration of the project.  All parties involved in the recent reconstruction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge agree that a focus on scheduling and coordination helped the project finish on time and on budget with no major injuries reported.

Envision was responsible for managing the contractor schedule.  This service included a detail review and report on the Contractor’s baseline CPM and ongoing monthly project update schedules.  In order for collaboration and tight control of this high-profile project, Envision participated in bi-weekly scheduling meetings to discuss the current status of CPM scheduling with the DRPA, the Prime, and Contractor.

In addition, Envision performed document control, including the maintenance, storage, and retrieval of all project correspondence between the field and the project office. Such materials included: Inspector Reports, daily rosters, track outages, and approved lane closures. Field personnel utilized iPads to write reports, which were then emailed to Envison’s representative for entry into a cloud-based Field Automated Communications System (FACS). A shared system, Dash Port, was also implemented to track and maintain submittals and RFIs. Envision supported the Project Manager with the coordination of meetings, as well as the transcription and distribution of meeting minutes.

Project Information

Owner Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA)
Project Start August 2013
Project End November 2015
Project Cost $103M
Envision’s Role
  • Baseline Schedule
  • Project Schedule Review
  • Document Control