College Engineering Students Connect Classroom Learning with Real World Project During District 9 Slide Site Visit

College Engineering Students Connect Classroom Learning with Real-World Project During District 9 Slide-Site Visit

Tags: District 9, DOTcom, Work Zone, Rural Roads

October 23, 2024 01:00 PM

By: Jay Knarr

​The field trip to the District 9 slide remediation project exposes students to real projects and the career opportunities available in the highway construction industry.

On September 26, PennDOT District 9 welcomed 17 students from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ) Student Chapter of ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) for a project-site visit on Route 403 in Somerset County.

During the heavy rains in April, a section of Route 403 (Tire Hill Road) collapsed after the supporting hillside was washed away by a combination of rising river water and hillside runoff. It was one of six slide events in District 9 during the April rains.

PennDOT District 9's Senior Civil Engineering Supervisor Jim Kaseler, P.E., Project Manager Michael Stone, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer Manager Garth Bridenbaugh, P.E., were on hand to provide details and answer questions about the project.

Val Casciato, Jr., the project manager, and Tom Goldinger, manager, from the project's contractor, Plum Contracting, Inc., of Greensburg, Pa., provided a guided tour of the work zone.

Constructors Association of Western PA (CAWP) provided the vests and hardhats - known as PPE or personal protective equipment - necessary for the UPJ engineering students to safely tour the active construction site.

Originally included in the overall $14.5 million Route 403 (Tire Hill Road) project, a retaining wall was being constructed at the site of the slide before the road was to be paved and reopened to traffic. The project is expected to be completed in November 2024.

In addition to the new retaining wall that the UPJ students toured, the project includes 6.5-miles of pavement preservation, milling, resurfacing, guide rail and drainage upgrades, and new signage and pavement markings. New curbing and sidewalks will be installed, along with upgrades to traffic signals, box culvert replacements, RC arch culvert and RC slab bridge preservations, several roadway slope stability improvements, and tree trimming and tree removal. All the work will occur within a 13-mile stretch of Route 403 from Tire Hill to Hooversville, Somerset County.

PHOTO 1: Seventeen University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown engineering students toured PennDOT District 9's Route 403 (Tire Hill Road) construction site to get an up-close look at a retaining wall being built to support the road.

PHOTO 2: Project manager Val Casciato, Jr., (Right), and manager Tom Goldinger, manager, of Plum Contracting, Inc., of Greensburg, Pa., provided a guided tour of the Route 403 (Tire Hill Road) retaining wall construction, as well as an explanation of the additional work at the site.