Twenty-five years in the making, construction on a $3.9 million pedestrian bridge spanning the Lehigh River is underway in Jim Thorpe.

Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor officials joined federal, state and county representatives at the site, south of the Jim Thorpe Train Station, Wednesday afternoon for a groundbreaking ceremony.Elissa Garofalo, executive director of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, said when the 250-foot steel truss bridge is completed later this year, it will help fill one of the last remaining gaps along the trail in Carbon County.“This is the culmination of two decades of dreams, planning and hard work,” Garofalo said. “We almost lost this project in 2014 when the rules changed and the D&L was no longer eligible for transportation funds. The Carbon County commissioners really stepped up to the plate and without them, we wouldn’t be here today.”The bridge is currently being built in Alabama and will be delivered in sections to Jim Thorpe, where it will be assembled on site.Cranes will be positioned on each side of the Lehigh River and the bridge will be connected in the middle.Latona Trucking of Pittston, Luzerne County, has the contract for the project.The cost of the contract is $2,729,483.20. In addition to more than $600,000 awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to design, engineer and permit the bridge, and $3.3 million granted through PennDOT’s Transportation Enhancement, hundreds of riders contributed through three “Bike for the Bridge” events.“A project like this doesn’t happen overnight,” said Leslie Richards, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. “It also doesn’t happen because of one person so we’re very excited to be part of a fantastic partnership that came together to get this much needed bridge underway. PennDOT is always focused on improving mobility, no matter the mode of transportation.”The idea for a pedestrian bridge was originally outlined in the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor’s 1992 Managemant Action Plan. The following year, an application was filed to design and construct the Mansion House Pedestrian Bridge. Ten years later, PennDOT and DCNR funds were awarded to begin designing the bridge.“We toured the site years ago and the need for this bridge was obvious then,” said Cindy Dunn, state DCNR secretary. “Carbon County really gets it as far as connectivity is concerned.”Completion of the bridge would make Carbon the first county in the D&L corridor to have a continuous through route.State Sen. John Yudichak called the project one of the most significant in the trail’s history.“We knew the construction of this bridge would require mountains to be moved in Harrisburg,” Yudichak said. “Thankfully we had two of the best mountain movers in Secretary Dunn and Secretary Richards. “They helped the D&L team finish the job that has brought us to this glorious day of a new era in Carbon County tourism with a direct link from the hiking trail to downtown businesses.”Other partners in the project include the Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk Southern Railroad, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, Carbon County Conservation District and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.Though no longer a member of the state Legislature, longtime state Rep. Keith McCall played a key role in getting the project to the starting line.“Agnes McCartney had the vision that really makes this town what it is today and through Elissa Garofalo’s legwork on this bridge, it has come full circle,” he said.According to Garofalo, the expected completion date is November of this year.