There are 301 structurally deficient bridges located across the
four-county area, according to statistics released by the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Of that number, four have been closed – including two for
construction work along the U.S. Route 219 Bradford bypass project
– and 12 others have weight limits imposed on them in McKean,
Potter, Cameron and Elk counties.
Officials said the bridges are safe for motorists, but in need
of some repair to bring them to current standards. Many of the
bridges that are closed or have weight restrictions were previously
classified as structurally deficient.
“I think we are falling somewhere in the middle when compared to
bridges statewide,” PennDOT Community Relations Coordinator Marla
Fannin said Tuesday. “There is always more work to do than we have
money available. The picture you are seeing in these four counties
is representative of the problem across the Commonwealth.”
According to the statistics from PennDOT, and calculations done
by The Era, McKean County has 123 structurally deficient bridges;
Potter County, 114; Elk County, 36; and Cameron County, 28. All the
bridges are longer than 8 feet.
Meanwhile, the closed bridges are located on the Bradford bypass
going over Forman and Mill streets – both of which are currently
being rebuilt; and along Ellisburg Road over the Genesee River and
Rag Hill Road over the Reynolds Hollow branch, both in Potter
County.
The bridges with weight restrictions are located in Cameron
County along Route 555 over the Driftwood Branch in Driftwood, and
Hicks Run in Gibson Township; along Route 3002 over Big Mill Creek
near Ridgway in Elk County; in McKean County along Route 1017 near
Duke Center over the south branch of Knapp Creek, and Route 2001
near Clermont over Seven Mile Run in Sergeant Township; and in
Potter County along Route 1004 near Loucks Mills over the Genesee
Branch of Pine Creek, on Route 1005 near Sunderlinville over Laurel
Run, Route 1016 near North Fork over the White Branch and north
fork, on Route 4003 near Clara over Clara Creek, and along Route
4017 near Shinglehouse over Bell Run.
All told, according to the figures, there are a total of 49
bridges that are considered structurally deficient across the Tuna
Valley – including roughly 16 in the immediate vicinity of the City
of Bradford.
“It’s a combination of age and deterioration,” PennDOT District
2 Assistant Bridge Engineer for Design Brent Lykens said. “The salt
content gets down through and corrodes them.”
Fannin said most of the bridges across the region are now 50 to
60 years old.
According to Lykens, a bridge is determined to be structurally
deficient if it rates at or below a 4 on a scale. Figures are
assigned to the deck, superstructure (beams) and substructure
(abutments). The bridges are rated by inspectors from zero to 9,
with 9 being in the best condition.
Lykens said the local PennDOT district has four, two-man
inspection crews, each of which is assigned to a certain area of
the district. By law, bridges are inspected every two years,
however, some can be inspected as often as six months.
“With a lot of structurally deficient bridges, we might be out
every year,” Lykens said.
Officials said funding at both the federal and state levels does
play a part in how soon bridges are worked on.
“Outside of something that might be an emergency, we work with
planning organizations like North Central and identify what the
priorities are,” Fannin said, adding structurally deficient bridges
can also be “functionally obsolete,” meaning they don’t meet
current standards for width and other measurements. “There are a
number of variables within that decision, including where the road
is located, the volume of traffic and whether it’s a main
artery.”
Fannin said some of the bridges are already being taken care of,
while others are in the pipeline for funding.
North Central officials have said the completion of
multi-million dollar bypass projects along Route 219 in Bradford
and Johnsonburg will help free up some funding to work on the
bridges, which are considered critical for the region.
Statewide, there are nearly 800 bridges that are either posted
with weight limits or closed due to structural problems, according
to PennDOT.
