Mike Tirpak and Gregory Haas from Carbon Engineering held a public comment hearing for the Koch Road Bridge project in Towamensing Township on Feb. 3.

Tirpak said Carbon Engineering has been hired by the county to design the bridge which will be funded 80 percent with federal money and 15 percent with state and local money. The budget is approximately $1.2 million.The present concrete arch structure is termed obsolete and deficient and will be replaced in the same location. PennDOT terms it a "bridge replacement with minimal road reconstruction." It will be similar to what is there but will be level without the arched roadway.The roadway will be widened from 15 feet to 22 feet with two-foot shoulders. Most of the additional width will be on the upstream side since there are two creeks on the downstream side.PennDOT has approved the plan. Hydrology studies are being done, and then the structures portion of the plan will be completed.A bank preventing safe sight distance will be cut back but not removed to improve the sight distance.Contruction should be completed in one season beginning in spring 2013 and ending in fall. A detour will use Koch Road, Pohopoco Drive and Trachsville Hill Road.On the opposite side a road-closed sign will be placed at the intersection with Whitey B Road.The plaque from the old bridge will be saved. Several suggestions were made about its eventual disposition from hanging it in the township building to creating a monument with the story of the old bridge in the area of the new bridge.Three hundred feet of road will be reconstructed on either side of the bridge.Con/Span, a manufacturer of precast bridges, is the proposed provider.Members of the historical commission wanted the old bridge to remain in place as an item on the historic listing in the township. The question came up in a question and answer period. It cannot be saved because the new bridge is to go in the same location and costs for building elsewhere would exceed available money.Stone-type facing was also desired. Tirpak said if money remains in the budget they will look into the possibility.Resident Roy Christman asked if the guardrail would be see-through. Tirpak said it will be concrete to a height of 18 or 24 inches, and then topped with a steel rail which may allow a view of the water.Stormwater control will be part of the project.The Zazulaks, who own the last house closest to the bridge on the Zinc City side, were concerned that the widening of the road would bring it too close to their house and that speeding is already an issue. Speeding is a matter for enforcement and Tirpak thought their house was closer to 500 feet from the bridge and would not be affected.A map is available in the township building showing the scope of the project.