Construction on a new Meadows Road Bridge is expected to begin in late May or early June, township manager Mark Hudson told council earlier this month. The stone bridge which spanned the Saucon Creek on Meadows Road for more than 160 years was demolished in 2022, after it began to collapse into the Saucon Creek. Prior to that, it had been closed to traffic for several years.
Work on a new span to replace the former Meadows Road Bridge in Lower Saucon Township should begin by late spring, township manager Mark Hudson reported to council earlier this month.
Hudson reported at the March 6 council meetings that bids to replace the bridge were opened on Feb. 29.
“They have been verified and are listed in ECMS, which is a PennDOT site,” he said. “The low bidder was Kinsley Construction & Co., for a bid of $3,082,000.”
Hudson said ground should be broken for the new bridge in “late May or early June.”
“I know everyone has been waiting for many years for the Meadows Road Bridge project to begin,” he added.
The crossing where the bridge previously stood has been inaccessible to motorists for six years, due to the bridge’s closure and subsequent demolition after it was judged to be beyond repair.
Built in 1858 and spanning the Saucon Creek just south of Hellertown, the Meadows Road Bridge was an engineering landmark that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
One of just a handful of 19th century stone arch bridges remaining locally, the structure was owned and maintained by Northampton County, which is responsible for replacing it with a new span.
Since the bridge’s closure, a detour that utilizes Skibo Road and W. Walnut Street has been in place, with homes and businesses along the lower part of Meadows Road cut off from nearby Rt. 412.
Note: News about the bridge replacement timeline was first reported by Lower Saucon Township resident and Saucon Shenanigans blogger Andrea Wittchen.
Orange cones block traffic on Meadows Road just to the east of where the bridge previously stood. A new span will be constructed there beginning later this spring, Lower Saucon Township Council was recently told.
The Meadows Road Bridge in Lower Saucon Township was demolished in 2021, after it began to collapse and was judged to be beyond repair, despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1858 stone arch bridge spanning the Saucon Creek was closed to traffic in 2018 after it was found to have structural issues. (FILE PHOTO)
Replacement of the former Meadows Road Bridge in Lower Saucon Township was identified as a short-range transportation project in the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s FutureLV Long-Range Transportation Funding plan. The historic stone bridge which spanned the Saucon Creek fell further into disrepair after it was closed to traffic in 2018, and despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places was demolished after it began collapsing into the creek in 2021. (FILE PHOTO)