Project Financing and Implementation
| Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners is financing the $1.117 billion project development costs with a combination of its own equity, milestone and availability payments from PennDOT, and tax-exempt private activity bonds, or PABs. At $793 million (including $71.9 million in sale premium), the PABs are the largest single source of funding, covering 71 percent of project costs. Plenary Walsh will use the availability payments it receives from PennDOT to repay the PABs. The PABs were issued by the Pennsylvania Economic Development Finance Authority on Plenary Walsh's behalf. The PABs enable the developer to tap into the municipal debt market and its competitive interest rates. PennDOT applied to USDOT to receive a PAB allocation prior to issuing its RFP for the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. | Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement Project
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PennDOT will also make milestone payments to Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners totaling $260 million during the three-year construction period. This represents 23 percent of the project funding. The remaining funding consists of $59 million in equity contributions from Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners, roughly five percent of project funding, and an additional $5 million in interest.
In order to avoid overburdening its district offices and to ensure consistency in the way the program is overseen, PennDOT is coordinating the management of the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project from its headquarters in Harrisburg. It is relying on consultants for much of the day-to-day administration of the project and has consultant teams in place for project management, design review, and right-of-way acquisition. PennDOT's intent is to manage the project in a manner that avoids creating delays for its other programs and activities.