When exactly the replacement of the Route 248 bridge in Carbon County will be completed remains uncertain.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Sean Brown said he has not “got an answer about the bridge work and when it’s going to be complete.

“They have additional work to do, and they have not finalized a schedule,” Brown said. “When we do have more information, we will provide it.”

The status of the bridge replacement project recently came under scrutiny by state Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon.

Heffley sent a letter to state Department of Transportation secretary Leslie Richards detailing his frustration with the project.

In his letter, Heffley raised concerns over public safety and work delays relating to the replacement of the bridge.

Work on the bridge will cost about $1.1 million, and is part of a $5.9 million contract awarded to Kriger Construction Inc. of Scranton to replace 13 bridges in three counties.

The bridge carries Route 248 over Norfolk Southern Rail lines and was built in 1962.

PennDOT announced in July that the Route 248 bridge project was expected to be completed in November.

Heffley also questioned the reason behind the delay in the completion of the contract and whether the contractor will be held financially, or otherwise, responsible; who wrote the specific contract, who approved the contract and awarded the project to the construction firm, and how does the department address contractors that have overextended themselves across numerous projects around the commonwealth, and not finish them on time.

In response to the letter, Ron Young, PennDOT spokesman, said last week there have been some issues with the bridge.

Young said that the expansion dams expand and contract with weather conditions, and noted that when the contractor started to replace them, they realized the original design didn’t fit with what they were seeing on the bridge, and that they had to reorder them.

He said that isn’t “uncommon” when dealing with a bridge maintenance contract.

Young noted this particular contract has 13 bridges, and the contractor has a start date and completion date to do all the bridges.

He said the dates are “anticipated, estimated,” and that “as long as they get the work done between the start and finish dates, they are in compliance with the original contract. They have until August 2019 to finish all the bridges.”

The project officially began in August 2016.