The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that a Route 246 bridge in McKean County will close on Monday as replacement work gets underway. The bridge spans Baker Run near the village of Rixford in Otto Township. Replacing the bridge will remove it from the list of McKean County bridges in poor condition.
This concrete T-beam bridge was originally built in 1925, is 22-feet long, and carries an average of almost 1,200 vehicles each day. It will be replaced with a precast box culvert.
Work on this project will be done in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the job site and relevant training.
Starting August 3, the bridge will be closed, and demolition will begin. A detour will be in place to move travelers around the closure. The detour will make use of Route 246, Route 346, and Route 646. The closure and detour are expected to be in place until at least early September.
This project is a cooperative effort between PennDOT McKean County Maintenance and L.C. Whitford Co., Inc. of Wellsville, New York. The contractor will set the box culvert and perform paving. McKean County Maintenance will perform excavation, site prep, demolition of the existing bridge, backfill, and rock placement. All work is weather and schedule dependent.
Drivers are reminded to use caution in and around the work zone, follow official detour signs, obey posted speed limits, and always buckle up.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 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 website.