Work to begin on East Pikeland bridge

EAST PIKELAND » The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced Thursday that construction will begin Monday, June 11, to rehabilitate the bridge carrying Hares Hill Road over French Creek in East Pikeland Township.

PennDOT’s contractor will rehabilitate the wrought iron through truss bridge by reconstructing damaged and deteriorated wing walls as needed; reconstructing stone masonry parapets with reinforced concrete;

and installing powdercoated brown guide rail to protect the blunt ends of the parapets. In addition, the scope of work also includes the re-installation of the conserved historic plaque on the outside of the southeast wing wall as well as placement of another plaque commemorating this 2018 rehabilitation.

Due to the nature of construction, Hares Hill Road will be closed and detoured between Camp Council Road and Irish Way during the three-month rehabilitation project. Beginning June 11 through late August, Hares Hill Road motorists will be directed to use Route 113 (Pike Springs Road/Kimberton Road) and Route 23 (Schuylkill Road/ Ridge Road). Local access will be maintained up to the construction zone.

Built in 1867, the onespan, single-lane bridge is 105 feet long, 14 feet wide, and carries an average of 4,895 vehicles a day. It is currently posted for 15 tons.

The structure is one of nine bridges in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties that PennDOT is repairing under a $7,407,987 improvement project financed by Act 89, the state’s transportation plan.

The bridges/culverts currently under construction include:

• Morwood Road culvert over a branch of Perkiomen Creek in Franconia Township, Montgomery County; and

• Route 232 (Second Street Pike) over a branch of Mill Creek in Wrightstown Township, Bucks County.

Structures completed under this project include:

• Sugan Road over Cuttalossa Creek in Solebury Township, Bucks County; and

• Old Forty Foot Road over Branch of Skippack Creek in Lower Salford and Towamencin townships, Montgomery County.

The other structures included in this rehabilitation project include:

• Baltimore Pike over Darby Creek in Clifton Heights and Lansdowne boroughs and Upper Darby Township, Delaware County;

• State Road/Lansdowne Avenue over Cobbs Creek in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, and the City of Philadelphia;

• Wissahickon Avenue over Monoshone Creek in Philadelphia; and

• Ridge Pike over Perkiomen Creek in Collegeville Borough and Lower Providence Township, Montgomery County.

Work on the entire project is expected to be completed in late summer 2019.