New Conservancy and S&B USA partnership builds high school students a bridge to future careers

The Commercial Street Bridge replacement project will become an outdoor classroom for about 20 Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy high school students starting this spring.

S&B USA, a Pittsburgh-based infrastructure construction company that develops and builds complex projects like this one, has given the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy a $50,000 grant to support three of its school programs. As part of that, these High School Urban EcoStewards will visit the site April 29 to gain insight into the construction and engineering work involved in the $95 million Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project, according to conservancy staff. Plus, they will learn how green infrastructure and environmental sustainability intersect and the role community engagement plays, too.

The bridge is between the Edgewood/Swissvale Exit 77 I-376 interchange in Swissvale and the Squirrel Hill Tunnel in the city of Pittsburgh. It spans Nine Mile Run, Frick Park and Commercial Street. It will be replaced by Fay S&B USA using accelerated bridge construction techniques — or ABC — to laterally slide the new bridge onto the existing Parkway East alignment, according to PennDOT’s website. The highway carries nearly 100,000 vehicles a day.

The grant supports two additional school programs: Habitat Explorers for first graders and Park Explorers for fourth and fifth graders. This year, eight schools participate in Habitat Explorers and seven in Park Explorers, according to conservancy Director of Institutional Relations Hersh Merenstein. Six high schools send students to the EcoStewards program, including new partner Woodland Hills. Merenstein said the grant plus some additional funding from the Woodland Hills district and the Parent Teacher Organization made that happen. 

Normally, each program visits Frick Park three times a year, Merenstein said, but the S&B USA grant adds a fourth trip for each group this spring. 

Schools pay a small fee to participate, he said. Wherever possible and with philanthropic sponsors, the nonprofit also covers schools’ bus transportation costs.

What the high school students normally do, he explained, is take over a plot on Clayton Hill, a prominent and large ecological site. They draw up plans for tree planting and biodiversity work, which includes removing invasive species and selecting new trees and shrubs. They help staff erect fencing to protect and to keep deer away from those new additions and replacements. Along the way, the high schoolers learn about the legislative process and how bills related to the environment become law.

It has become a great recruitment for the conservancy’s Young Naturalists Program, Merenstein said, where students can learn more during the five-week program while being paid $1,500 stipends, an amount that makes the program more accessible to teenagers. Applications for it are now open.

Introducing students to green job possibilities and careers is a large part of that program. The same will happen with the S&B USA partnership as they learn about the construction elements of large infrastructure projects.

The students will find out that S&B USA has slid other bridges into place as part of past construction projects.  Vice President of Communications Katie Spear said the company utilized ABC on a couple of local bridge construction projects, ones much smaller than the Commercial Street Bridge, and a bigger railroad bridge. Fay S&B USA will build the new arched delta frame bridge south of the existing bridge on temporary foundations while traffic is maintained on the original bridge, according to the PennDOT website. It will weigh just over 19 million pounds or 9,000 tons. Once the new bridge has been completed, the original bridge will be closed down two to three weeks and removed, using a mixture of conventional and explosive demolition.

Then a skidding system supplied by a specialty slide contractor will move the new bridge — very, very slowly — into place. After tying in the bridge using ABC techniques, the new structure will be reopened to traffic, the debris underneath the bridge will be cleared and the site will be restored.

The students will be told how this method of bridge replacement will help all those Parkway East commuters. Spear said the accelerated bridge construction means an approximate one-month shutdown. Much better than what would have happened with typical construction — two years with the highway closed, she said.

Work began on the three-year project last year, Vice President of External Affairs and Sustainability Grant Ervin said, mostly clearing and what’s called grubbing. Some utility lines had to be moved, a temporary Commercial Street Parkway section installed and the bike trail underneath adjusted a bit. So the students will see more intense construction activity when they visit.

An important part will be introducing the students to the importance of safety on the job site — each will have to wear a hard hat and vest — then they’ll be introduced to the construction elements and work involved in a large infrastructure project. They will walk the site, too.

The different elements include learning about the civil engineering professionals and craft unions working there. Fay S&B USA is a signatory with the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania, and unions within that group represent laborers, operating engineers, carpenters, pile drivers, cement masons and Teamsters needed on the project.

Ervin said after the visit students will be able to understand what an operating engineer is and does and the different technical skills needed for each construction component, like the heavy equipment operators. “People will give them a brief overview of these roles that could be future careers for them,” Ervin said, “all really good-paying jobs.”

Students will be introduced to a deeper program — the Future Road Builders — that CAWP works with that they can become involved with, too. It has links to apprentice programs and courses.

The conservancy partnership, of course, ties into the environment and the scenic area beneath the bridge. Major construction work takes place in 2025 into 2026, and after the old bridge is demolished and the new one slides over, work will begin to restore the scenic area and adjacent properties below. The PennDOT site lists the project ending by summer 2027.

Ervin said that final work will include restoring the Nine Mile Run stream and massive tree planting. “The reforestation and remediation of the stream will be a huge enhancement in addition to a bright, shiny new bridge,” he said.  “We will also have great enhancement to the park and the adjacent communities.”

The partnership will continue throughout the three years, Ervin said. This summer, S&B USA will work with the conservancy to build a deeper curriculum for high school students participating in the fall. It also gives them multiple classes to work with throughout it, reaching more students and introducing them to not only green environmental jobs and careers but also civil construction industry work.

That benefits S&B USA and its industry, too. “There is a huge need and opportunity to build a career in the construction industry,” Ervin said. “There are huge workforce challenges across the board and in the construction industry to bring new voices and faces into the industry, [including] a lot of underrepresented population who haven’t found their way to work in this space. 

“One of the reasons why partnering with groups like the conservancy is important is we tell a whole new generation of people that there is a career opportunity to work in infrastructure construction, either on the labor side as a craft professional or as management or even communications and marketing. There’s a big need for talent from entry level all the way up the chain.”

The second benefit that comes from combining much-needed Pennsylvania infrastructure upgrades with educational programs like this is that it doubles the results, he said. Companies like S&B USA can utilize the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program to help nonprofits like the conservancy and direct that investment to young people.

That state Department of Community and Economic Development initiative provides eligible businesses with tax credits for contributing to a scholarship organization, an educational improvement organization, and/or a prekindergarten scholarship organization.

“It’s really a great tool in that here we have a tax credit program in Pennsylvania helping to support the investment made by the state in the bridge construction with PennDOT. Coupled together, that creates a huge community impact,” he said.  [With the new bridge] the communities of the Squirrel Hill, Greenfield and Swissvale, Swisshelm [Park] … are directly affected. But there is a huge multiplier effect. It shows the impact of infrastructure investment.” 

Ervin said the conservancy partnership is a huge example of that. “We’re not just fixing the bridge and restoring the stream and enhancing the tree canopy but also helping kids potentially find a new career path.”

Fay S&B USA is also involved with The Challenge Program, a similar effort through the state’s education investment tax credit program, as it builds the North Fork Bridge on I-80 near Brookville. It is working with four Jefferson County high schools adjacent there, mirroring the conservancy partnership.

S&B USA has worked with the conservancy for years, Ervin said, on everything from corporate volunteering — weed cleanup and tree planting — to supporting its Spring Hat Luncheon fundraiser. That has included taking part in Earth Day activities to some of its employees celebrating Israeli Tu BiShvat, a holiday marking the new year for trees on the 15th day of Shvat on the Hebrew calendar and February on others, in the parks.

“A large part of it is that a number of our employees live near and around Pittsburgh parks that the conservancy is a steward of and has a large connection with them,” Ervin said.

The grant announcement said this new investment strengthens all that commitment. “Not only does it allow us to deepen our commitment to inspiring young learners, but it also provides an incredible opportunity to connect students to future careers in STEM and infrastructure. We are excited to work together to show how major construction projects like the Commercial Street Bridge replacement can also enhance the natural spaces that make Pittsburgh special,” conservancy President and CEO Catherine Qureshi said in the release.