Council Members Concerned About Water Street Bridge

An aging bridge that connects Hellertown with the western part of Lower Saucon Township was the subject of discussion at Hellertown Borough Council's Feb. 21 meeting.

Council members expressed concerns about the visibly deteriorated state of the 117 foot-long Water Street Bridge, which spans the Saucon Creek near a point where the township, the borough and the City of Bethlehem meet.

A state-owned bridge, the two-lane Water Street Bridge has been deemed "structurally deficient" by PennDOT, which last inspected it in the spring of 2011.

In April of last year, , with 100 points considered entirely sufficient and 0 considered entirely deficient.

According to PennDOT, a bridge's classification as "structurally deficient" does not mean it is unsafe, but rather serves as an indication that deterioration is present.

In layman's terms, in cases involving bridges such as the Water Street Bridge, the ranking is an admission that the span "doesn't look nice," said borough manager Cathy Kichline.

"But it isn't going to fall down," she added.

According to Kichline, when the bridge was last inspected the main structural issues that were identified were deck-related.

The bridge's support beams and other critical components of the structure were rated as "fair," she said.

She added that the bridge is due to again be inspected on or before Nov. 22, but said there will be an effort made to have it inspected earlier, particularly in light of the fact that the last inspection was performed prior to flooding that occurred when .

Councilman Tom Rieger confirmed that the local council of governments, the Saucon Valley Partnership, is also planning to push for the bridge to be inspected sooner rather than later.

With , Rieger said the partnership wants to help ensure that the Water Street Bridge isn't abruptly shut down due to accelerated deterioration.

"That would put us down to one bridge--the grist mill bridge," he said, referring to the Walnut Street bridge that spans the Saucon Creek south of the Water Street Bridge.

Rieger said the closure of Water Street would force detours and could "put a very large strain" on local resources.

Council president Phil Weber suggested that PennDOT might be able to move the bridge higher on its list of state bridges awaiting repair, in light of the fact that its closure could seriously threaten transportation and impact local commerce.

"If you've seen the pictures, it definitely is going downhill," he said of the structure.

Subsequently, a motion made to have Kichline send a letter about the bridge to PennDOT and to have her contact state Rep. Bob Freeman (D-136) regarding its current state was passed unanimously by council.

Rieger said he believed officials are planning to take similar action.