The Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Toll-Supported Bridge is scheduled to be restricted to a single alternating traffic lane controlled by flaggers 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, and Friday, March 1, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced Friday.
The vehicular travel restriction will allow engineers to thoroughly inspect the steel-truss structure as a first step toward designing a bridge rehabilitation project that is expected to be carried out in 2025.
One lane at the two-lane bridge will be closed for the inspection work. The bridge’s remaining open lane will then have flaggers posted at each end to control alternating streams of traffic from either direction across the bridge.
Engineers will use the bridge’s temporarily closed travel lane to examine the bridge’s steel truss sections for deterioration and damage. A bucket truck is to be utilized as part of this process.
Currently, the envisioned rehabilitation project’s major tasks include:
- Repair various pieces of the bridge’s steel superstructure;
- Clean and repaint the bridge’s steel superstructure and underlying bearings;
- Repairs to the bridge’s abutments, piers, and retaining walls; and
- Install a programmable LED lighting system to highlight the bridge’s architectural profile at night along the river. This would be the third Commission bridge to be outfitted with such a lighting system.
