DOUGLASS (Mont.) >> Plans for the replacement of the County Line Road bridge over Swamp Creek call for work to begin in June.
The project is estimated to cost $594,500, although it has not yet been put out to bid.
Joshua Hagadorn, an engineer with Gilmore and Associates, said a pre-formed concrete arch bridge has been chosen as the design both because it will require less maintenance and is less expensive than the steel I-beam and concrete I-beam options looked at by the design team.
PennDOT must still approve the design and the designers are also waiting for Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to issue a permit to allow the construction work near the stream.
Additionally, construction and access easements are still being secured from property owners adjacent to the work site.
Hagadorn said there is some urgency to the job because the bridge is used by many school buses as well as trucks for the Global Advance Metals plant, formerly known as Cabot Supermetals.
There is another reason to move quickly.
Hagadorn said a $475,600 grant from the Delaware Valley Planning Commission needs to be spent by the end of August in order for the township to be reimbursed.
The township will should about $119,000 of the cost, he said.
Although the bridge and road serve both Douglass and Colebrookdale townships, Colebrookdale is currently not contributing anything toward the cost, Douglass Township Manager Peter Hiryak confirmed.
Hagadorn said designers hope to issue a call for bids in March and to award the bids in May.
Demolition of the existing bridge, which has been deemed structurally deficient and had weight limits on it for many years, is expected in May with construction of the new bridge eyed for June or July, he said.
During the construction work, drivers will be detoured about two miles to get around the site, said Hagadorn.
