River Road to close four days in Tinicum, Plumstead for bridge construction

The four-day closure of River Road is required to allow construction crews to safely install new pre-fabricated concrete arches for the new bridge being built over Tohickon Creek, says PennDOT.

“During the four-day operation, passenger cars using Route 32 will be detoured over Point Pleasant Pike, Route 413 (Durham Road), and Dark Hollow Road,” advises the state agency. “Local access will be maintained up to the construction zone on either side of the bridge. Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling through the area. The contractor’s schedule is dependent on the weather.”

Says PennDOT, “Following this temporary closure, Route 32 will remain open to passenger vehicles, as drivers will continue to travel over the temporary bridge that was built for this project.

“A truck detour around the Route 32 bridge construction remains in place. This detour, which was instituted last February, takes large trucks over U.S. 202 and Route 611. The implementation of the truck detour was necessitated due to the alignment of the road and the temporary bridge,” added PennDOT.

PennDOT went on to detail elements of the construction process and and bridge design: “Construction crews are replacing the existing two-span reinforced concrete arch bridge on Route 32 (River Road) with a new two-span precast concrete arch structure. The new bridge will be adorned with an aesthetic stone finish on the support abutments and wing walls.  It will be 160 feet long and 37 feet wide. It will have two 11-foot travel lanes, a six-foot-wide sidewalk adjacent to the northbound travel lane, and three-foot shoulders. The new bridge is scheduled to open in May 2016.”

“The former bridge was built in 1922. It was 156 feet long, 27 feet wide, and a contributing resource to the Point Pleasant Historic District. Loftus Construction, Inc., of Cinnaminson, N.J., is the general contractor on the $5,970,000 project.”