Carbon County officials have pushed through a Community Development Block Grant project for Packer Township that has been in the works since 2020 because the culvert under a small bridge collapsed.

During the county commissioners meeting last week, the board approved a recommendation from the county office of Planning and Development to award the 2021 CDBG contract for the Packer Township culvert replacement project on Ochre Mill Road to Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction of Tamaqua in a non-competitive method of procurement bid of $236,989.70.

The non-competitive method of procurement was approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development following Packer Township declaring a state of emergency because of the collapsed culvert.

According to code, the bidding process can be bypassed if approved through the state because the issue was deemed a public emergency and does not allow time for a competitive bidding process due to the need to fix the problem quickly.

Packer Township has been working on repairing this culvert since June 2020, when the board of supervisors applied to the county for CDBG funds. The culvert is a large pipe placed under a portion of road creating a small bridge that allows a stream or drainage to move from one side of the road to the other.

In July 2022, the supervisors voted to advertise for bids for rebuilding Ochre Mill Road, contingent upon the culvert replacement being completed. At that time, it was noted the work would include a prefabricated box culvert wide enough and strong enough to carry the load of a firetruck crossing.

In 2023, supervisors estimated that the culvert replacement project would cost approximately $182,000.