The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)
will start construction Friday, August 5, on a $450,000 project to rehabilitate the structurally deficient bridge carrying Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) over French Creek in Phoenixville Borough and East Pikeland and Schuylkill townships. The project is scheduled to finish Sunday, August 14.
Crews will work to rehabilitate the Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) bridge by replacing a portion of the bridge deck and deteriorated beams.
During construction, Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) will be closed and detoured between Valley Forge Road and Township Line Road. The posted detour will use Township Line Road and Valley Forge Road. Southbound Township Line motorists wanting to access eastbound Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) will be detoured over Mowere Road. Local access will be maintained up to the construction zone.
The Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) bridge was built in 1940. The two-span steel I-beam bridge is 125 feet long, 40 feet wide and carries an average of 15,450 vehicles a day. The bridge is posted with a 22-ton weight limit. When construction is completed the bridge will no longer be classified as structurally deficient.
The Route 23 (Schuylkill Road) bridge is one of nine bridges in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties that PennDOT is repairing under a $7,555,555 project financed by Pennsylvania’s transportation funding plan, Act 89.
PennDOT has completed the rehabilitations of the U.S. 13 (Bristol Pike) bridge over Martins Creek in Falls Township, Bucks County; Chinquapin Road bridge over Iron Works Creek in Northampton Township, Bucks County; and Dark Hollow Road bridge over Tohickon Creek in Tinicum Township, Bucks County.
The Route 32 (South Main Street) bridge over Aquetong Creek in New Hope Borough, Bucks County, and the Route 73 (Skippack Pike) bridge over Perkiomen Creek in Perkiomen and Skippack townships, and Schwenksville Borough, Montgomery County, are currently under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.
The three remaining bridges that will be repaired under this contract are:
• Bryn Mawr Avenue bridge over Ithan Creek in Radnor Township, Delaware County;
• New Second Street bridge over Tacony Creek in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County; and
• Route 611 (Broad Street) bridge over U.S. 1 (Roosevelt Extension) in Philadelphia.
The entire project is expected to be completed by fall 2017.
Loftus Construction, Inc. of Cinnaminson, N.J., is the general contractor on the project, which is financed with 100 percent state funds.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 770 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.
