NEW HOPE: Bridge Street now open both ways

PennDOT replaced the old 67-year-old bridge over the Delaware Canal with a new concrete adjacent box beam bridge

   NEW HOPE — The new Route 179 (Bridge Street) Bridge in New Hope Borough, Bucks County, was opened to two-way traffic June 12, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
   ”We couldn’t be more pleased to reopen this important bridge to the people and businesses in New Hope,” PennDOT District Executive Lester C. Toaso said.
   ”We tried to work closely with the borough and the businesses along Bridge Street during this tough project,” he said. “The bridge was built in half widths to help accommodate vehicular and pedestrian traffic along Bridge Street.”
   Crews still have some work to do under the bridge and in the Delaware Canal, Mr. Toaso added.
   PennDOT replaced the old 67-year-old bridge over the Delaware Canal with a new concrete adjacent box beam bridge. The new structure has aesthetic timber trusses along both sides of the bridge. The old steel-beam bridge was built in 1950. It was 48 feet long and 51 feet wide. The new bridge is 50 feet long and 52 feet wide.
   During construction, the bridge was built in two stages, utilizing a one-way detour. Southbound Route 179 (Bridge Street) was detoured approximately 2.5 miles on Route 32 and Route 202. Northbound traffic was maintained on the bridge during construction.
   Grace Industries, Inc. of Bath, Pa., was the general contractor on the $1,546,125 project that was financed with 100 percent state money. Construction began Oct. 27, 2008.