Chestnuthill Township has begun its plans to reconstruct the bridge on Silver Valley Road.

The bridge has been inaccessible since Christmas Eve of 2018 and was originally closed due to a failed PennDOT inspection.

The township is looking for the reconstruction to be finished in September of 2020. The three firms that will be involved with the reconstruction are Reilly Associates, Effective Technical Applications, and Woodland Design Associates.

“We want to put the bid out in the winter,” David Albright, Chestnuthill Township manager, said. “We have the individual contracts. They’re kind of blended together to show the steps and the timeline of the project.”

The township applied for a significant grant for the reconstruction, estimated around $750,000. Vice Chairman Chris Eckert acknowledged that the public has been curious about the reopening of the bridge.

“These things kind of got the better of us as far as timing goes,” Eckert said. “We certainly would have liked to have been able to hold off a little longer on Silver Valley, but when the inspector came and decided it needed to be closed because of the corrosion, we were forced to do what we had to do.”

Some of the local residents are happy that the bridge is closed. They enjoy the newfound silence on Silver Valley. Others, however, are less than enthusiastic. One local resident, that asked to go unnamed, mentioned how inconvenient it is for emergency vehicles. She referred to an accident that happened right by the bridge.

“It took the ambulance at least 20 minutes to get to the accident while the lady sat in the car in pain. They’re down the street, and they shut down two bridges,” she said.

While the construction of the bridge is significant, it is not the most complicated aspect of the project. Eckert named permitting, utility relocation, and acquisition as aspects more complex than the actual reconstruction.

“You’d think a little stupid bridge would be easy to fix. It’s not,” Eckert said. “A lot of money. As always, unfortunately, things do not come cheap.”