Keeler Road bridge repair coming soon
A bridge in Towamencin could be the site of the township’s next major project, and traffic restrictions or detours until fixes are made.
Township officials had a unique look this week at age-related deterioration below a bridge on Keeler Road, and what it will take to fix.
“The whole bridge needs to be replaced, but what we’re looking at now is getting the traffic off of the expanded portion, because that’s in worse shape,” said township engineer Mary Stover.
The bridge in question carries Keeler Road over a branch of a small creek west of Troxel Road, between Quarry Road and Michael Way, and was evaluated by the township engineer as part of an update to the township’s overall stormwater management plan, according to supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson. Stover gave the board the results of that evaluation Wednesday night, showing photos taken from below the bridge that show the concrete clearly deteriorating, and internal reinforcing bars visible where the concrete has worn away.
According to the engineer, the original bridge structure was cast-in-place reinforced concrete beams, 18 inches deep, with a castin-place concrete deck six inches thick atop it; that structure is roughly 15 feet, four inches long and largely makes up the westbound lane now. An expansion of cast-in-place concrete slab 12 inches thick with steel beams inside makes up most of the eastbound lane, is roughly 10 feet two inches long, and new bridge abutments were cast-in-place and extended over parts of the original bridge abutments.
“The older section can handle a weight limit of 16 tons, so we’d have to put a weight restriction for 16 tons,” Stover said.
The engineer’s recommendation is to limit traffic over the bridge to one car at a time, instead of limiting the bridge to only oneway traffic, while repairs are underway. The stormwater plan in the works will recommend repairing the bridge, and temporary repairs could be done that would allow two lanes to be reopened while a fully repaired bridge is designed, and approvals are secured.
“If we started today, on a process of looking at replacing that, how long are we talking?” Wilson said.
Stover answered that the design and permitting would likely take the most time, and a fully replaced bridge would likely not be done “at least until next year sometime.”
“The traffic on that in rush hour — it’s going to create issues,” Wilson said.
Stover said adding the weight restriction is meant to keep the bridge open to as much traffic as possible, if only those vehicles of lighter weight, until the full fix is done.
“The structural engineer has told us, if it were to start to fail, it’s not going to be an instant thing. You would see it starting to go, if it got to that point,” she said.
Wilson asked if any repairs to that bridge could wait until the current work to widen a bottleneck on Forty Foot Road is finished, and Township Manager Rob Ford said that widening is slated to “hopefully be done this spring.” Stover added that a temporary repair to restore two lanes should be faster than the full repair, because of fewer permits needed, and Wilson answered that “it seems to me that’s something we should move on immediately.”
Supervisor Rich Marino asked if the township had any way to ask Road-Con, the contractor currently hired to do the township’s annual road repairs, to also handle some sort of work on the bridge.
Solicitor Jack Dooley said not “unless it can be fairly described as an emergency,” and Marino answered that “it somewhat is,” but Dooley said state court cases have found “too many municipalities were going too far” with such declarations.
Supervisor Dan Littley added that any full closure would seriously impact the ability of emergency vehicles like firetrucks to reach nearby houses as quickly as possible. Marino asked how quickly the engineer could develop a formal proposal for a temporary repair, to stabilize the bridge while a full fix is designed, and Stover said she and her firm could have that back to the board in time for their March 24 meeting.
“I don’t think it’s imminently going to be a problem, but it is not in good shape,” Stover said.
“If we’re not going to shut it down immediately, then we could inspect it regularly, to make sure that it’s not deteriorating,” she said.
Wilson asked how staff would add signs on nearby roads to indicate a weight limit before large vehicles get too close to the bridge to turn around, and Ford said he’d check with township police and public works staff to find the best locations for signage. Marino added that any weight limit should apply not only to heavy cargo tractor-trailers, but also to trash trucks, which tend to weigh well over the suggested 16-ton limit.
The board then voted unanimously to direct staff to get a formal proposal from the engineer to perform the short-term repairs while evaluations long-term options. Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7:30 p.m. March 24; for more information, visit www. Towamencin.org.