Carbon County officials changed course on how to proceed with fixing a pedestrian bridge used by employees in the county administration building daily.

Last week, the board of commissioners accepted a proposal from Keystone Consulting Engineers Inc. of Kresgeville to sketch a layout plan and feasibility study for future parking lot improvements and the replacement of the pedestrian bridge, all located at the county administration building. The estimated cost for the plan is $15,000.

Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said that there had previously been some design work and preliminary work done in anticipation of repairing the bridge; however, when the commissioners went over that plan, they decided to go in a different direction.

“The commissioners just felt that rehabilitation wasn’t really the way to go,” Sofranko said. “It was more cost effective to go with a replacement and redesign.”

He added that the project will also include work on the upper lot, with the possibility of gaining a few more parking spaces; however that remains to be seen if that will be feasible.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that the replacement bridge will hopefully be much like the one crossing the Lehigh River, with it being constructed offsite and brought in to help cut down on construction time.

“It would probably be replaced within a week instead of dragging a construction project out for months because it is used every day,” he said. “It would be very difficult without that bridge so we’re looking for something that they can tear out (the old bridge) and put a new one right back in that’s premade.”

In June, the commissioners initially agreed to repair the existing foot bridge between the lot and building, noting that the bridge, in its current state, has significant wear and tear, including a few cracks in the concrete, a small hole at the end of the bridge near the parking area and rusted beams.

No time frame on when the plans will be completed and the project moves forward has been announced.

The last time the bridge was rehabilitated was in approximately 2002, the commissioners said.