Al Zagofsky - Carbon County Magazine

From the publisher
The Bridges of Carbon County

Publisher Al Zagofsky

Carbon County has two bridges in need of major improvements.

At a public meeting on Jan. 5, 2012, PennDOT representatives presented plans to rehabilitate the Route 209 Thomas McCall Memorial Bridge in Lehighton.

The bridge was given the fifth worst score of all state-owned deck truss highway bridges, and has the same type of deck truss construction as a bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis.

PennDot previously released plans to replace the Rt. 903 Laura Thomas Memorial Bridge with a new bridge that would be located at the bottom of North St.

A more complete discussion on the meeting is at McCall Bridge rehabilitation. A discussion of the issues by Gerald Strubinger is in this issue of Carbon County Magazine.

The cost of PennDOT's proposed rehab of the McCall Bridge has been estimated at nearly $12 million.

A complete rebuilding of the bridge, as recommended by Strubinger, has been estimated by PennDOT to cost over $50 million.

The rehab would prevent concrete from falling from the piers, and replace the deck and bearings. PennDOT estimates that the rehab would be good for over 50 years with normal maintenance.

Rehab would begin in the spring of 2014 and be completed in the fall of 2015.

The proposed new Jim Thorpe Rt. 903 bridge would require the acquisition of eight homes and increase the walk from the downtown area to the town's market and back by close to a mile, making it a much longer trip for those without cars to do their normal shopping.

PennDot believes that extending North St. to the bridge would increase safety. Several years ago, a bus lost its brakes and crashed into a home at the bottom of North St.

A barrier has since been erected and the author is not aware of any recent problems, nor is it clear how the extension of North Street onto a bridge would have much effect if a vehicle were so out of control that it was unable to stop in the mile from the bottom of the hill to Front Street.

At least with the current design an out-of-control vehicle would hit the existing barrier, which would slow down the vehicle. With the proposed design, an out-of-control vehicle would be likely to hit additional vehicles, go off the bridge into the river, or slam into the mountain on the west side of the river.

The Jim Thorpe Planning Commission Committee has shown an interest in maintaining the current bridge for walking and bicycling. The D&L is planning a pedestrian bridge between the Jim Thorpe Waste Treatment plant and the bottom of the Mansion House hill.

The proposed Rt. 903 bridge would also have an impact on the remains of a Lehigh Canal lock.

At a projected cost in the tens of millions of dollars, are we in a rush to spend, regardless if we are selecting the right projects?

Al Zagofsky

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