The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Bridging Pennsylvania Developers will host a pre-construction public meeting for the Interstate 80 Over Lehigh River Bridge Project at 6 p.m. Thursday at St. Patrick’s Church in White Haven.

This project is part of the ongoing PennDOT Major Bridges P3 Program.

The purpose of the public meeting is to introduce key members of the BPD-I and Bridging Pennsylvania Constructors teams and provide an update about specific pre-construction, anticipated upcoming construction activities, and scheduling.

The bridge between Carbon and Luzerne counties was originally one the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was originally considered for tolling, but that idea was suspended.

The I-80 bridges over the Lehigh River are eastbound/westbound structures built in 1965 and approaching the end of their serviceable life spans.

These bridges cross over the Lehigh River, Lehigh Gorge State Park, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad and River Road in Carbon and Luzerne counties.

Combined, the bridges carry an average of 27,400 vehicles per day, about 44% of which is truck traffic.