Emergency repairs set for Skinners Falls bridge; Calkins Creek bridge eyed for replacement

The historic Skinners Falls/Milanville bridge over the Delaware River, closed for five years, is set for emergency repairs this fall to protect boaters and the waters below.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is proposing to replace the Calkins Creek bridge next to the Milanville General Store on River Road. PennDOT plans to keep one lane open at time during construction, rather than impose a long detour.

Skinners Falls, however, remains completely closed, pending a decision on the ultimate fate of the one-lane bridge linking Pennsylvania and New York.

Pieces falling into Delaware

On Aug. 2, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) notified PennDOT of the urgent need for an emergency inspection of the Skinners Falls bridge, where heavily rusted metal parts were seen falling into the river. A licensed fishing guide, Evan Padua (and the UDC representative for Town of Tusten), had alerted the UDC.

PennDOT announced Aug. 29 that it will be removing loose bridge components, a project that is to continue through this fall. Warning signs and buoys will be installed upstream and downstream of the bridge and temporary protective netting to the superstructure will be put up. PennDOT undertook emergency procedures to obtain state funding for the netting.

The 1902 suspension bridge was closed in 2019 to all traffic, including walkers and bicycles, due to its deteriorating condition. The bridge had undergone emergency repairs over the previous several years, and its weight limit was lowered twice. Closure of the span cuts off immediate access to emergency services from the New York side as well as use by the public. The bridge is on the National Register for Historic Places.

PennDOT, the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration conducted a Planning and Environmental Linkages Study last spring to identify transportation purpose and needs, weighing various scenarios for the fate of the Skinners Falls bridge, including estimated costs. These included doing nothing; demolition and scrapping; removal and relocation; two degrees of rehabilitation; and full replacement.

Public meetings and a survey have been conducted. The UDC, which advocates for rehabilitation with retaining the bridge's historic character, commented in the Aug. 2 letter, "The UDC remains dismayed over how protracted and costly (at nearly $4 million) this Planning and Environmental Linkages Study has been since the beloved historic bridge was closed to all traffic on October 16, 2019. It’s inevitable that the bridge continues to structurally decay while awaiting the determination of its fate."

Calkins Creek Bridge

The announcement from PennDOT, released Oct. 1, asks for public comment regarding the proposal to replace the Calkins Creek bridge.

Once the superstructure replacement is complete, the new bridge will accommodate pedestrians by using a wider shoulder on the upstream side of the roadway, PennDOT states. PennDOT plans to powder coat the bridge beams, abutments and wingwalls and guiderail the brown color "typically used by the National Park Service (NPS)," PennDOT states.

The state also plans to use an architectural surface blue stone pattern for the bridge elevations. "Scour protection material (rip rap) around the abutments will incorporate local stone that is intended to match the form liner (bridge elevations)," PennDOT states.

Traffic control during construction will include a single-lane, alternating pattern controlled by temporary signals during half-width construction. PennDOT also will accommodate pedestrians during construction using a designated signal phase to allow them to safely cross the bridge on temporary lanes.

The public comment period runs from Oct. 7 through Oct. 21. People may provide comments or obtain additional information by contacting the following:

Justin R. Mitchell, SAI Consulting Engineers, Inc., 2 Lemoyne Drive, Suite 101, Lemoyne, PA 17043. Email JMitchell@saiengr.com or call 717-763-5005.

The secondary contact is project manager Carmen Mancebo Clase, PennDOT District 4, 55 Keystone Industrial Park Road, Dunmore, PA 18512. Email cmancebocl@pa.gov or call 570-963-3190.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Emergency repairs set for Skinners Falls bridge; Calkins Creek bridge eyed for replacement