Eight county bridges out of service
ELK » Some commuters are taking the long way around.
As of Sept. 13, eight of the 94 bridges that are owned by Chester County are closed, including three historic covered bridges. Hurricane Ida flooding either destroyed or heavily damaged the roadways leading to the bridges. No timeline for repair or replacement, or cost estimate, was given by the county in a Wednesday news release.
The covered bridge on Camp Bonsall Road was unfortunately destroyed during the hurricane. Of the remaining bridges, county bridge engineers are assessing the damage for each, to determine the level of repair or replacement needed.
Post-storm engineering inspections were completed for the most vulnerable of the county’s 94 bridges immediately after the storm. The county’s bridge engineers are completing visits to all remaining bridges to review their conditions and assess any further impacts that may require repairs.
“Immediately after the storm, our bridge engineers visited and inspected the county bridges that were most impacted, including the historic covered bridge that was, sadly, destroyed,” said Jan Bowers, Director of Chester County’s Department of Facilities Management. “As we continue our work on the bridges that were most impacted, we have also accelerated our ongoing inspection program for the remaining county bridges to find out if any of them may need repairs.”
The following countyowned bridges were impacted. PennDOT and local municipalities also control dozens of other bridges in the county.
• Camp Bonsall Rd (New London & Elk Twps., over Big Elk Creek) (covered bridge destroyed)
• King Row Rd (New London & Elk Twps., over Big Elk Cr) (covered bridge)
• Harmony Hill Rd (E. Bradford & W. Bradford Twps., over East Br. Brandywine Creek) (covered bridge)
• Harmony Hill Rd (E. Bradford Twp., over Little Valley Creek)
• Wilson Rd (Tredyffrin
Twp., over Valley Creek)
• Creek Rd (Schuylkill Twp., over Pickering Creek)
• Pikeland Rd (W. Pikeland Twp. over Pickering Creek)
• Church Rd (Tredyffrin Twp. over Valley Creek)
PennDOT bridges in Chester County still closed include:
• Camp Bonsul Road (PennDOT also listed the bridge over big Elk Creek in Elk)
• Strickersville Road (Big Elk Creek in Elk).
• White Horse Road (Doe Run Londonberry)
• Route 162 (Embreeville Road) over west branch of Brandywine Creek in Newlin
• Bondsville Road over Branch of Beaver Creek in Caln
A PennDOT news release
reads that since the storm over 600 bridge inspections were conducted throughout District 6 by PennDOT contracted bridge inspectors.
“Approximately over 400 state bridges and over 200 local bridges were looked at,” according to the release. “Recommendations are then given to the local
municipalities, but it is up to the municipality on how they will proceed with their local bridges.
“The above closed state bridge locations currently have our construction or maintenance crews assessing the situation and individual plans/repairs are being planned for each one.”