SHENANDOAH — The Gold Star Bridge along state Route 924 at the southern side of Shenandoah reopened to traffic on Wednesday after repairs were made to the bridge deck.
Construction workers reopened the east side of the busy highway after installing a steel plate to cover a hole on the bridge deck.
Crews discovered the hole early Monday morning and closed the bridge, with a temporary detour posted for traffic, sending traffic along Herald Road and East Laurel Street. Structural engineers were called in to determine the extent of the damage and whether it could safely be reopened to traffic.
Since additional work needs to be done, the bridge will close again during overnight hours. According to Dan Galvin, the media contact for Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners, crews will have to close the bridge again from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Thursday and Friday evening to perform additional repair work from underneath the bridge.
“During investigations of the bridge’s condition, structural engineers determined that it would not be safe for construction workers to work from underneath the bridge while traffic was overhead,” Galvin said in a media release.
Signs will be posted to alert drivers to the detour during the nighttime repair work, with traffic rerouted to state Route 54 and Gilberton Road (state Route 4030).
The Gold Star Bridge is part of the state Department of Transportation’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. Staged construction started in mid-March on the bridge over Kehley Run Creek. The bridge was built in 1949 and averages about 5,500 vehicles a day. The bridge is scheduled to be complete early fall.
The construction project began with the closing of the southbound lanes and the removal of that side of the bridge. All traffic in both directions has been funneled into one lane on the northbound side, with signals controlling the traffic flow. The project plan involved constructing a new two-lane southbound half of the bridge to be opened in early summer, then close the northbound side for similar construction.
Five bridges were completed in Schuylkill County in 2015. Two bridges will be replaced this year.
The bridge projects are part of a Public-Private Partnership between PennDOT and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners under which PWKP will finance, design, replace and maintain the bridges for 25 years. As part of PWKP, Walsh/Granite JV will oversee construction. The P3 approach will allow PennDOT to replace the bridges more quickly while achieving significant savings and minimizing impact on motorists.