Several Area Bridges are 'Structurally Deficient'

Since Pennsylvania has more structurally deficient bridges than any other state in the country, according to a recent report by the group Transportation for America, it shouldn't really come as a surprise that Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township have their fair share.

Still, for motorists who traverse these spans on a regular basis, the knowledge that one or more of their major components have deteriorated--causing them to be deemed "structurally deficient" by the Pennsylvania Department of Transporation (PennDOT)--can be disconcerting.

It shouldn't be according to PennDOT, which emphasizes in its Bridge Safety Inspection Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) information sheet that "although deterioration is present, a structurally deficient bridge is safe."

According to the FAQ, PennDOT conducts about 19,000 bridge safety inspections each year, and is responsible for the biennial safety inspection of about 25,000 state-owned highway bridges in total.

PennDOT also oversees the inspection by municipalities and other agencies of about 7,000 locally owned bridges once every two years.

Of the Saucon Valley bridges classified as being "structurally deficient," only the historic Meadows Road bridge is under local control. Two other local bridges classified as structurally deficient are located near Hellertown, but are located inside Bethlehem city limits.

The Meadows Road bridge, which was built in 1858, spans the Saucon Creek about a tenth of a mile west of Route 412 in Lower Saucon Township, south of Hellertown.

The bridge has a posted weight limit and a structural sufficiency rating of 22.9 on a scale of 100, with 100 points considered entirely sufficient and 0 considered entirely deficient.

A posted weight limit, according to PennDOT, does not mean a bridge is unsafe.

Rather, "it means that in order to maintain public safety, only vehicles weighing no more than the posted weight limit can cross the bridge," according to the PennDOT Bridge Safety FAQ.

A bridge's sufficiency rating is a calculated score indicating its "ability to meet the traffic demands and safety needs for the route it carries," according to PennDOT.

When the state requests federal funding for bridge replacement or reconstruction, bridges with low sufficiency ratings are eligible for more funds, and bridges with ratings of 49 or less are eligible for replacement funding.

In addition to the Meadows Road bridge, the PennDOT-maintained Water Street bridge over the Saucon Creek in Hellertown is considered structurally deficient, with a sufficiency rating of 56.

Built in 1938, the 117-foot-long, two-lane bridge is an important conduit for traffic between the western Lower Saucon Township and the borough.

A second state-maintained bridge that is considered structurally deficient is an open grate bridge across the east branch of the Saucon Creek at the intersection of Easton and Ringhoffer roads in Lower Saucon.

That bridge, which spans 34 feet and was built in 1956, has a structural sufficiency rating of 59.1, and along with the Water Street bridge is of steel I-beam construction.

While technically located in the city of Bethlehem, two locally maintained bridges on West High Street just west of Hellertown are also classified as being structurally deficient. 

The timber bridge across the old Norfolk-Southern railroad culvert at the Bethlehem-Hellertown line was built in 1910 and has a sufficiency rating of 18.1, according to PennDOT. Just a few hundred feet west of that bridge, a 1936 steel truss bridge that spans the Saucon Creek has a sufficiency rating of 34. 

Several other PennDOT-maintained bridges in the Saucon Valley have been classified as "functionally obsolete," which means they have design features that are outdated.

One of the spans classified by PennDOT as functionally obsolete is part of the westbound I-78 interchange with Route 33 in the northeastern corner of Lower Saucon Township.

That interchange was built 10 years ago and on average handles close to 24,000 vehicles per day, according to a highlighted map on the T4A website.

The website is searchable by zip code or street address, allowing users to assess how many structurally deficient bridges are in their towns.

Other Saucon Valley bridges that are considered functionally obsolete by PennDOT include the Black River Road bridge over the Black River, which is a 21-foot-long concrete slab span built in 1938; the 28-foot Friedensville Road bridge across the Black River, which is of concrete and T-beam construction and was also built in 1938; and the Lower Saucon Road bridge over the east branch of the Saucon Creek, just south of Easton Road.

That bridge is 33 feet long, was constructed in 1930, and is of concrete-encased steel I-beam construction.

PennDOT Safety Officer for Engineering District 5 Sean Brown said in an email that the agency currently has no work scheduled on the Saucon Valley bridges it maintains, but emphasized that the bridges are regularly inspected and are safe.

"They are inspected at a minimum of once every two years, or even more frequently," Brown said. "And we would not keep them open if they were not safe." 

For detailed local road maps of both Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, with bridge crossings indicated, visit the PennDOT website.

Spreadsheets listing all of the local and state-owned bridges and their ratings are also accessible via PennDOT's website, here.