The Route 873 Lehigh Gap Bridge connecting Route 248 to Slatington is scheduled for a full weekend closure and detour of both lanes from Friday evening through Monday morning.

The closure is to install the deck overlay before opening it fully, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Ronald Young.

“The contractor is still completing parapet replacement, which needs to be completed before the opening of both lanes, as well as paving and line striping,” Young said. “Steel repairs, substructure repairs, pedestrian bridge repairs, etc., will continue beyond the opening of both lanes.”

Road restrictions began in March for the project to rehabilitate the Route 873. One lane has been closed to traffic.

People will need to detour through Walnutport to get to Slatington.

Work includes bridge cleaning, structural steel repairs, bearing repairs, painting, expansion joint replacement, concrete deck repairs and placement of a deck overlay.

The Route 873 Lehigh Gap Bridge was built in 1930 and rehabilitated in 1984. The seven-span bridge is 1,024 feet long and 26 feet wide. Spans one and seven are riveted steel through girders, while spans two through six are steel trusses.

Route 873 in that area has an average daily traffic volume of 9,562 vehicles.

Kriger Construction Inc. of Scranton is the general contractor on the $6,923,127 project, which is expected to be completed in February.