Pinkerton Tunnel Rehabilitation - Armtec's solution

1. PINKERTON TUNNEL REHABILITATION
Southwestern Pennsylvania, the USA
The historic Pinkerton Rail Tunnel, originally built in 1911
to connect the former Western Maryland Rail-line to the
bustling Pittsburgh region, has been closed since the bike
trail opened in 1999.
In 2014, Armtec worked with Pittsburgh based engineering
consultants Gannett Fleming to rehabilitate the 270 meter
long concrete tunnel and eliminate the 2 ½ kilometer
detour. Working closely with the engineering
consultant Armtec proposed an 8.3 meter span x
6.8 meter rise corrugated structural steel liner
closely matching the inside dimensions of the
existing tunnel wall. In the spring of 2015 over
1000 plates were assembled into rings
and moved into place over the tunnel length.
By mid-August Geobuild had bolted together
and set in place the equivalent of almost three
football field lengths of Armtec corrugated plate
arch. The finishing touches to the tunnel end
walls were completed in early September.
On September 21, 2015, some 16 years after
the opening of The Great Allegheny Passage
bikers by the passed the detour and began
making their way direct through the historic
Pinkerton tunnel.
Above: tunnel before and after the rehabilitation
Owner:
Somerset County Rails-to-Trails
Association
Engineer:
Gannett Flemming, Pittsburgh
Contractor:
GeoBuild, Columbus, Ohio
Technical Description:
 Product: Corrugated Steel
Plates, Two Radius Arch
 Span: 8330 mm
 Rise: 6810 mm
 Length: 259 m
Installation: August 2015