{"id":7977,"date":"2012-03-30T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=7977"},"modified":"2012-03-29T10:53:20","modified_gmt":"2012-03-29T14:53:20","slug":"repair-of-red-bridges-bridge-proving-complicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=7977","title":{"rendered":"Repair of Red Bridge’s bridge proving complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multiple issues, including PennDOT rules, extending process for a fix<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kelli Siehl<\/strong>, Staff Writer, UnionvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The bridge at the entrance of Red Bridge Farms in Pocopson is in need of repairs, but a combination of factors is slowing the process.<\/p><\/div>\n

POCOPSON \u2014 Costs and governmental regulations are just some of the factors holding up repairs for Red Bridge Farms\u2019 namesake bridge.<\/p>\n

At Monday\u2019s Township Board of Supervisor\u2019s meeting, Roger Hiss, representing the Red Bridge Farms Home Owners\u2019 Association (HOA), noted that the HOA received a letter in 2009 from Pocopson Township outlining required repairs to the bridge.<\/p>\n

Although repairs have been made regarding stream erosion, Hiss said there has been no action on addressing the integrity of the bridge. \u00a0Hiss made the inquiry because he said the Red Bridge Farms HOA would like to replace stone veneer on the four corners of the bridge which has deteriorated over time. He said the HOA cannot proceed until the township replaces the rotting wooden guiderails, posts and horizontal rails.<\/p>\n

Hiss asked the Supervisors to make the project a priority for both safety and aesthetics.<\/p>\n

Pocopson Township Engineer, Jim Hatfield, addressed the concerns saying there are several issues involved. First, replacement of the rotting wood with the same material would not meet current Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) specifications.\u00a0 According to Hatfield, \u201cIf the rails are replaced with wood, PennDOT would continue to rate the bridge as substandard.\u201d He explained, \u201cReplacement should be a high priority\u201d but the township hasn\u2019t made progress because of safety, aesthetics and cost concerns.<\/p>\n

The second issue is PennDOT\u2019s inspection report requesting approach guiderails be installed, which he said would obstruct any view of stone veneer. However, Hatfield stated he will ask for a design waiver to this requirement since he doesn\u2019t perceive a safety concern at this location.<\/p>\n

The final issue is the state\u2019s \u201cscour analysis\u201d on the bridge has increased. Scour, according to the US Department of Agriculture, is \u201cthe erosion or removal of streambed or bank material from bridge foundations due to flowing water\u201d and is the most common cause of highway bridge failures in the United States.<\/p>\n

In the case of the Red Bridge Farms\u2019 bridge, Hatfield said since the stream approaches the bridge on an angle, each time there\u2019s a heavy rain; the water rushes the northeast corner of the bridge structure. \u00a0He said the water is too deep at that area for a conventional repair and cited other options. One option is to build a dam upstream and then pipe the water around the bridge – bypassing the project area, and the other is to have the township hire professional divers.<\/p>\n

Hatfield\u2019s recommendation to the Supervisors is that the bridge railing should be fixed first since it is more pressing matter at this point.<\/p>\n

The township does have to come up with a Scour Plan of Action. Hatfield said the Public Works Department must outline plans to inspect the structure during any storm or high water and then immediately after the high water subsides. This action allows officials to assess any change in the bridge\u2019s integrity and reduce the risk of a bridge failure.<\/p>\n

Supervisors\u2019 Vice-Chair, Georgia Brutscher asked Hatfield to have a professional services contract prepared for the next meeting on April 9th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Brutscher said she would like to see construction ready designs prepared for the project by June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multiple issues, including PennDOT rules, extending process for a fix By Kelli Siehl, Staff Writer, UnionvilleTimes.com POCOPSON \u2014 Costs and governmental regulations are just some of the factors holding up repairs for Red Bridge Farms\u2019 namesake bridge. At Monday\u2019s Township Board of Supervisor\u2019s meeting, Roger Hiss, representing the Red Bridge Farms Home Owners\u2019 Association (HOA), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[137,10,1063],"class_list":["post-7977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-penndot","tag-pocopson","tag-red-bridge-farms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}