Two detours–one for cars and one for trucks will be used
OLANTA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has postponed the start of a Clearfield County bridge replacement until June 17.
The bridge spans Little Clearfield Creek on Route 453, south of Curwensville, near the village of Olanta. Work was originally scheduled to start Monday.
Replacing the bridge will remove its weight limit postings of 35 and 40 tons and will also remove the bridge from the list of Clearfield County bridges in poor condition.
When the bridge is closed next week, two official detours will be in place. The detour for passenger vehicles will use Route 2012 (Zion Road), Route 2023 (Turkey Hill Road) and Route 2022 (Little Clearfield Creek Road).
The detour for commercial truck traffic will be 36 miles long and will use Route 53, Route 729 (Tyrone Pike) and Route 969 (Lumber City Highway).
The existing steel bridge was built in 1937, is 81 feet long and carries an average of 614 vehicles daily. It will be replaced with a pre-stressed, concrete bridge.
Overall work will include removal of the old bridge, construction of the new bridge, approach paving, guiderail installation, pavement markings and miscellaneous items.
The bridge is expected to be open to traffic in late August, with all construction work to be finished by mid-October.
Clearwater Construction of Mercer is the contractor for this $1.6 million project, which covers replacement of two bridges. The first one on Route 453 will be replaced this year.
The second structure is a box culvert on Route 2023 in Glen Richey, scheduled to be replaced in 2020 after the end of the school year.
PennDOT reminds drivers to use caution in work zones, follow official detour signs, obey posted speed limits and always buckle up.
PennDOT encourages drivers to “Know before they go” and to check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com.
511PA is free, available 24 hours a day and provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 950 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA Web site.
Subscribe to PennDOT news in Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin and Potter counties at www.penndot.gov/District2. For regional updates on Twitter, follow www.twitter.com\511PAStateCOLL.