After about a year of construction, PennDOT has opened the temporary SR309/Center Street bridge in Tamaqua to traffic.

Traffic is now being diverted onto the temporary 150-foot-long and 38-foot-wide bridge while contractors with Clearwater Construction, a PennDOT subcontractor, tear down and replace the old bridge.Contractors point out that the temporary bridge, which runs over the Little Schuylkill River, is a Baily-type Acrow bridge.A pedestrian walk ramp is also located on the bridge. The architecture of the new bridge, expected to be completed by the fall, will resemble the older parapet-style bridge.Contractors said that traffic will not be diverted onto the new bridge until November.Upon completion of the new bridge, the temporary bridge will be taken down.