The project contractor for a bridge replacement on Route 209 in Mahoning Township said the work should have a minimal impact on traffic.

Rory McGlasson of Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners, who is teaming with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to replace 558 aging bridges in the state, hosted a meeting Tuesday night to outline the project, though no members of the public attended.The bridge being replaced carries Route 209 across Beaver Run. Work, to be completed in three phases, is set to begin in late July and finish by March 2017.“There will be no detours and two 11-foot lanes will remain open at all times,” McGlasson said. “We chose to do the work in stages, rather than close the bridge.”That decision was based on the average 11,500 vehicles traveling that part of Route 209 each day.McGlasson said the poor substructure of the bridge is what it got it placed on the list for replacement. It was built in 1937.The bridge will be replaced with a precast concrete box culvert.While the entire 558 bridges cost $900 million to complete, McGlasson said it’s difficult to calculate a per-bridge cost.Pennsylvania’s rapid bridge replacement started last year and 53 bridges have already been completed.“We’re getting a lot better as we go,” McGlasson said. “We have really strict deadlines and if we miss them, we are heavily penalized.”The only other Carbon County bridge still on the list is Quakake Road over the Quakake Creek in Packer Township. That project is scheduled to begin and end in July 2017.For updates on the replacement, go to

www.parapidbridges.com.