Motorists will have to detour temporarily around bridge closures in Ligonier and Cook townships as PennDOT begins work meant to preserve six small municipally owned spans in Westmoreland and nearby counties.
The nearly $1.6 million project by Gulisek Construction was scheduled this week through late April to shut down a bridge that carries Peters Road over Loyalhanna Creek, just off Route 30 east of Ruthie’s Diner in Ligonier Township. Motorists can enter Peters from its opposite end, which intersects Route 711.
Closure of a bridge that carries Hoover Road over Fourmile Run is set to begin on Monday in Cook. Hoover Road will be closed between Route 130 and Hoods Mill Road through early May, depending on weather conditions.
According to PennDOT data, the bridges respectively are listed in fair and poor condition.
No matching funds will be required from the local municipalities.
“We’re paying for all of it because we realized some of these municipalities don’t have the money to do these projects,” said Rachel Duda, PennDOT District 12 executive. “It’s preservation of a bridge rather than letting it get down all the way to the end of its life and having to replace it.”
The bridges on Peters and Hoover roads both will undergo joint sealing and application of a protective coating. Crews also will work on the abutment and repave the approaches of the Hoover Road bridge.
“It’s sealing all the things that are needed to keep water out of the cracks,” said Jeremy Hughes, District 12 assistant executive for design. “Now is the time for that.”
Gulisek is expected to complete work on a half dozen bridges by November.
The project also includes bridges on: Hoods Mill Road, over Fourmile Run in Cook; Reed Avenue, over Third Street in Monessen; Beeson Avenue, over Tenmile Creek in Marianna, Washington County and Gas Company Road, over Dunkard Creek in Dunkard Township, Greene County.
A number of other bridges of various sizes in Westmoreland County are slated to get attention from PennDOT this year.
• Ligonier Construction Co. is set to replace the bridge carrying Route 136 (West Newton Road) over Pollock Run in Rostraver, at a cost of $5.27 million. The bridge is expected to be closed through August.
•Cri-Lon Corp. will replace a series of three bridges on Fairfield Township’s Laughner Road, at crossings over Snyder’s Run. Work on the $461,000 project, with a related detour, is expected to extend through November.
• J.F. Shea Construction will be paid a little over $2 million to replace joints and reconstruct the drainage system of the bridge that carries the eastbound lanes of Route 30 over Loyalhanna Creek at Longbridge in Ligonier Township. Traffic will be restricted from using one of the two eastbound lanes from mid-April through most of the summer, according to PennDOT.
• Swank Construction Co. will repair the concrete deck of a span that carries Torrance Road over McGee Run in Derry Township. Completion of the $1.1 million project is expected by the year’s end, with a temporary signal controlling alternating single-lane traffic.
• Gulisek will complete deck preservation for bridges on: Route 119, over the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Fry Hollow Road and Wilson Run at two locations in Hempfield; Route 217 (Millwood Street), over McGee Run in Derry Township; Route 993 (Irwin-Trafford Road), over Brush Creek in North Huntingdon.
In June, PennDOT plans to seek bids for preservation of bridges at seven locations in Westmoreland County and one in Fayette County:
• Interstate 70 over Hunker Waltz Mill Road and Hunker Waltz Mill Road over Sewickley Creek, both in Hempfield. The latter work will require a traffic detour;
• Midget Camp Road over Hendricks Creek (with detour) and Ross Mountain Park Road over a branch of Hendricks Creek, both in Fairfield;
• New Stanton-Youngwood Road and the ramp from that road to Route 119, both in New Stanton;
• Falcon Park Road over Pucketa Creek in New Kensington;
• Brownsville Albany Road over Redstone Creek in Brownsville and Jefferson townships, in Fayette County.