With a total length of 11,981 feet and 120,000 vehicles crossing the bridge per day, the Walt Whitman Bridge is the 10th largest Suspension Span in the United States. In 2015, after completing the deck replacement of the suspension spans, the Delaware River Port Authority let their biggest painting contract ever, over $57,000,000 to blast and paint the entire suspension span which included the complete interior and exterior of the towers, deck support steel in the anchorages, suspension cables, and various steel repairs. A Construction Monitoring Contact was also awarded based on a qualifications-based selection. This paper is a case study of what skills were required for the construction and engineering team as well as the unadvertised skills (e.g. dealing with nesting Peregrine Falcons, complexities of traffic control on a high ADT bridge under containment) that contribute to the successful completion of a project of this magnitude.
The Walt Whitman Bridge Painting Project: A Case Study for the Skills Needed by the Construction Monitoring Team and a QP1/QP2 Certified Contractor for Successful Completion of a Major Bridge Painting Project
Kevin Keith, Johnson, Mirmiran, & Thompson, Inc.
Kevin Keith is a resident engineer managing major bridge rehabilitation projects on site in Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, NACE Level 2 Coating Inspector – Certified, and SSPC C-3 Certified. For the past ten years, his projects have included contract monitoring and resident engineering services for painting, steel repairs, and concrete repairs. Kevin is employed by Philadelphia Office of JMT, Inc., a multi-discipline Engineering, Architecture, and Construction Management Company. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from St. Lawrence University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Syracuse University. He is also the author of “Engineering Protection of Peregrine Falcons on Major Bridge Rehabilitation Projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey” presented at the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation and coauthor of “Bridge Inspections Using Electronic Data Collectors,” presented at the 6th International Bridge Engineering Conference sponsored by the Transportation Research Board.
David Hatherill, Corcon, Inc.
David Hatherill currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Corcon, Inc., Lowellville, Ohio. Corcon, Inc. was established in 1976 by Louis G. Lyras, Chief Executive Officer, and predominately performs large scale structural bridge painting and rehabilitation projects located in the northeastern states of the United States. As President, he is responsible for the overall production and financial performance of the corporation and is heavily engaged with corporate surety, financing, and insurance matters, as well as corporate development. David is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio and has over thirty years of experience in the heavy highway construction industry. David is a graduate of Youngstown State University, with a Bachelors of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering. After graduation, he began his engineering career with the Ohio Department of Transportation, District 4, for approximately ten years in the construction department as a Project Engineer and in 1996, entered the specialized industry of structural bridge painting and industrial coatings. Some of the prominent structures that David has been associated with as an engineer and/or corporate director is the Throgs Neck, Verrazano Narrows, Brooklyn, and Walt Whitman bridge structures.
Kevin H Keith, David M. Hatherill; January 15–18, 2018. "The Walt Whitman Bridge Painting Project: A Case Study for the Skills Needed by the Construction Monitoring Team and a QP1/QP2 Certified Contractor for Successful Completion of a Major Bridge Painting Project." Proceedings of the SSPC 2018. SSPC 2018. New Orleans, LA. (pp. 1-53). AMPP. https://doi.org/10.5006/S2018-00031
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