Work On Big Oak Road Bridge To Start Next Month

MIDDLETOWN, PA — Construction on the bridge that carries Big Oak Road over Interstate 295 in Middletown is set to start next month, PennDOT announced on Tuesday.

Work repairing the aging bridge will begin Thursday, Sept. 19, according to PennDOT. The project is expected to run through late October.

During the repairs, Big Oak Road will be closed between Harpers Crossing and Hickory lane.

As a detour, drivers will be directed to use Oxford Valley Road, Heacock Road, Stoney Hill Road, Langhorne yardley Road and Township Line Road. Local access will be maintained up to the construction zone.

Built in 1967, the Big Oak Road bridge carries an average of 8,126 vehicles per day over I-295. The bridge is 210 feet long and 37 feet wide.

A PennDOT contractor will be adding concrete to the bridge deck, repairing its concrete substructure, replacing and resealing bridge deck joints, installing scour rock protection and milling and paving the roadway.

Big Oak Road is one of eight bridges in Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties that PennDOT is repairing under a $4.4 million project financed with state funds. Other structures currently under construction include:

• Stonybrook Road over Jericho Creek in Upper Makefield Township
• South Sugan Road over Aquetong Creek in New Hope Borough, Bucks County.

Road-Con, Inc. of West Chester, Chester County, is the general contractor on the bridge improvement project.