PennDOT has provided a first look at plans to replace a 90-year-old bridge in Mahoning Township.

The bridge on Fritz Valley Road carries traffic over the Normal Creek.PennDOT has proposed replacing the old span starting in August 2017. They met with township officials Wednesday night.According to Brian Teles, a consulting engineer on the project, construction should take less than a year to complete. But he said that a more developed construction schedule will be formulated closer to that time.PennDOT takes their bridge plans to the public more than a year in advance to ensure the public has sufficient time to comment, PennDOT District 5 bridge engineer Chrstopher Kufro said. No members of the public had any comment at Wednesday's meeting.The new bridge will be built out of pre-fabricated concrete sections. A wall will also be erected to limit erosion on the southwest side of the bridge.Motorists who use Fritz Valley Road will have to find an alternate route during construction.PennDOT has tentatively proposed a detour using Mahoning Mountain and Ben Salem Roads. Whenever the agency closes a state highway, they are required to create a detour that uses other state roads.However, township supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt said that traffic would probably utilize other local roads that are shorter than the proposed detour.Steigerwalt questioned how the detour would be affected by the reconstruction of Route 443 in the township, which has also been proposed for 2017.Kufro said that this project should be completed before work on Route 443 begins.The actual deck of the bridge was built in 1924. However it was reinforced and widened in 1953. Kufro said the bridge doesn't pose an imminent threat, but based on its age, it needs to be replaced."It's time. It's been almost 100 years and it's served its purpose," Kufro said.