The state Department of Transportation is ending a busy construction season highlighted by the start of a new bridge replacement initiative.

The bridge carrying Route 356 over Thorn Creek in Jefferson Township is now fully reopened to traffic after nearly three months of construction.

That project marked the third bridge replacement in Butler County that was part of the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project, a public-private partnership between PennDOT and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners.

The two sides this year finalized their $899 million contract. Plenary Walsh will finance, design, replace and maintain 558 bridges across the state during the three-year deal, including 11 in the county.

Dan Galvin, a spokesman for the consortium of companies, said the first year of work was successful.

“There have been no major issues,” Galvin said. “There’s always occasional headaches, but we have good plans so once we get these started, we’re able to get them done without much difficulty.”

The West Cruikshank Road bridge crossing Glade Run in Middlesex Township was the first in the state completed as part of the program. It opened in late August after having been closed in mid-June.

Saxonburg Boulevard over Bull Creek in Clinton Township was the next bridge done by the group.

The new approach allows PennDOT to replace the bridges more quickly for a lower cost due to economies of scale than in the past.

Galvin said all of the bridges being replaced across the state are similar in size and have similar plans and materials needed.

The average project cost per bridge is $1.6 million, Galvin said. Through PennDOT’s standard process, the cost to build and to maintain a bridge would average more than $2 million.

The Freeport Road bridge, the most recent completion, had been restricted to a single lane with temporary traffic signals controlling traffic.

The original bridge, which was built in 1930, carried about 8,500 vehicles per day. The 10-week reconstruction project was done by the Mekis Construction.

Galvin said 51 bridges in the state are to be finished by the end of the year while the remaining 507 will be done in the next two years.

“We have a lot of work to do going forward,” he said.

Four bridges in the county are scheduled to be replaced next year as part of the program. Those are: the bridge carrying Route 68 over Glade Run in Zelienople, McCalmont Road over Connoquenessing Creek in Butler Township, Brownsdale Road over the Connoquenessing Creek in Forward Township, and the bridge south of Queen Junction over the B&LE Railroad in Clay Township.

“But that’s tentative,” Galvin said of the plans.

[naviga:h3]Other bridge work[/naviga:h3]

PennDOT also completed other bridge replacement projects in the county this summer.

Work on a bridge carrying Route 8 over Slippery Rock Creek in Brady Township started in April.

That $1 million project closed the road between Routes 108 and 173 and detoured traffic through Slippery Rock. About 10,000 vehicles pass the Route 8 and 173 intersection daily.

The road reopened in early September a few weeks ahead of schedule.

A bridge carrying Route 422 over Bonnie Brook in Summit Township reopened in October. The section of road between Bonniebrook Road and Carbon Center Road in Summit Township had lane closures during construction.

The $2.7 million bridge replacement project was done by Mekis Construction.

The West New Castle Street Bridge in Butler was closed for 100 days for a replacement project done through a state and local partnership.

The bridge is longer and wider as the banks of Sullivan Run were modified to allow for more effective water flow.

The city paid $311,000 of the about $1.5 million project, with the state covering the rest.

The replacement was part of the Sullivan Run flood control project that began two decades ago.

Other bridge work included Route 58 over Blacks Creek in Marion Township and two bridges on Route 38 over tributaries of Connoquenessing Creek in Oakland and Concord townships.

The state also started work in September on a Henricks Road bridge over the Connoquenessing Creek in Butler Township.

This $2.7 million replacement project also is being done by Mekis and the bridge is expected to open in July.