Bryan Road Bridge Re-opens Tomorrow
by Jonathan Weaver
For five weeks, Cowanshannock Township residents have endured road detours to compensate for a local bridge construction project, but not tomorrow.
The Bryan Road (State Route 1039) crossing over the south fork of Pine Creek is scheduled to reopen to traffic on Wednesday.
The bridge was one of the four Rapid Bridge Replacement Projects currently active in Armstrong County. RL Johnson Construction, of Kittanning, performed the culvert bridge project.
Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners supervised the replacement projects with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Public Information Manager Dan Galvin said crews stuck to the original schedule.
“Most of our bridges have a 10 week construction schedule – the majority do - , but there are a few that only have a five-week schedule depending on the construction materials used and sometimes just how important the roadway is to the area,” Galvin said.
The old bridge was built in 1938 and carried about 270 vehicles per day. The new crossing is longer and wider than the one it replaced and is designed to last as long as 100 years.
Galvin did not know of any vehicle accidents during the re-construction.
The remaining three Armstrong County bridges will be completed at different times later this year.
The Freeport Road Bridge (State Route 3017) over Glade Run closed at the beginning of August and will remain closed until October.
Another bridge south of Dayton along Route 1039 that spans over Glade Run is currently restricted to a single lane– with temporary traffic signals - until early-November
In West Franklin Township, the Nichola Road (SR3013) bridge in West Franklin Township is currently restricted to one lane (where it crosses Buffalo Creek about a mile north of US 422) until early-November.
Another seven bridges will be rebuilt in 2016 and 2017.
Galvin was encouraged by the progress of all the projects so far both here in Armstrong and across the state. 558 bridges must be replaced before 2018.
“We have a lot of work to do, but we’re plowing ahead,” Galvin said.
As part of PWKP, Walsh/Granite JV will oversee construction. The P3 approach is to allow PennDOT to replace the bridges more quickly while achieving significant savings and minimizing impact on motorists.
Local News | jweaver September 8, 2015
