A bridge in Bucks County that carried thousands of vehicles each day was closed Monday afternoon.
The bridge carrying Main Street over SEPTA tracks in Sellersville Borough was closed and detoured due to severe structural deterioration.
PennDOT officials say deterioration and corrosion of the steel truss above the bridge’s main deck prompted the closure.
"The steel truss that goes above the bridge deck is in very poor condition and the evaluation was done and it was deemed that for public safety we needed to close the bridge," said PennDOT press secretary Gene Blaum. "We'll look into the feasability of a repair plan and then finding a contract to get it under to make the repairs necessary to get the bridge open to a lower weight restriction."
A project that would replace or rehabilitate the bridge is currently in its preliminary stages. However, construction for the project isn’t expected to begin until 2018.
"It's going to clog up the streets that aren't meant for that type of traffic," said Gary Millar of Sellersville.
The bridge was built in 1927. It’s 139-feet long and 34-feet wide and carried about 7900 vehicles a day. The bridge was posted for 15 tons and 26 tons for combination loads.
"This bridge hasn't been safe for the last 30 to 40 years," said Robert Iannetta of Sellersville. "They're always complaining that they're going to tear it down."
During the closure, Main Street through traffic will be detoured over Route 152 (State Road/Park Avenue), Route 309 and route 563 (Ridge Road).
Photo Credit: NBC10.com