EAST BRADY, Clarion County — Construction of the new $15.4 million East Brady bridge on Route 68 over the Allegheny River is on target to be finished in August 2007.

The bridge is being built about 300 feet downstream from the existing bridge, entering East Brady at the intersection of Clarion and Water Streets. It links the traffic of East Brady in Clarion County to Bradys Bend in Armstrong County.

PennDOT Project Manager Tim McClellan said construction has run smoothly so far.

He said the August 2007 completion date includes the demolition of the current bridge. Barges will be used to remove parts of it using a process called "controlled burns" before pieces are dropped into the river.

McClellan said the pieces will be retrieved by lifting them out, rather than dragging them. That will protect the riverbed, which contains a fragile ecosystem.

The groundbreaking was on April 29, 2005, with the prime contracting done by Brayman Construction of Saxonburg.

"This is a huge, huge project for that area that has been a longtime in the works," said Shawn Houck, a PennDOT spokesman.

"When you look at a structure of that size with the amount of money invested into it, we hope it will stimulate the economy and promote economic development," said Houck.

In 2005, the piers, abutments, and wing walls were constructed, and there was minor road work, with traffic patterns remaining the same, according to the Web site PennDOT created for the project, www.eastbradybridge.com.

This year's construction will erect the steel part of the bridge, construct the bridge deck and the road, sidewalk and the curb. At this point, traffic will shift primarily from the Armstrong County side of the bridge.

No detours will be necessary during construction because of the distance between the two bridges.

The new bridge will be 32 feet high, 1,034 feet long and 41 feet wide with 6-foot-wide sidewalks.

That trumps the current truss bridge, which was built in 1885 and is 751 feet long, 20.1 feet wide and 28 feet above water level.

Despite the extra width, the new bridge will have one lane in each direction, like the current bridge. However, the lanes will be wider.

The road surface will be concrete instead of metal grating.

McClellan said the relocation site for the bridge was chosen because it will better align in East Brady.

The bridge will have light poles and railing with the appearance of wrought iron. Abutments and piers will have the appearance of the stonework of the current bridge.

Before the project could begin, PennDOT worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to protect the endangered species of freshwater mussels in the area.

The clubshell and northern riffleshell mussels were once abundant, but the loss of habitat and water quality because of water impoundment, channelization, stream bank clearing and agriculture runoff has reduced the species' population by 95 percent.

Divers from Clarion removed the mussels and moved them to West Virginia waters, where they are being bred in captivity. The mussels will return to the river after the riverbed stabilizes.

Dean DeNicola, a professor at Slippery Rock University, said if there aren't sustainable riverbed conditions for mussels, there won't be space either for other species, such as salmon, clams and trout

"They are indicative of big changes in the bottom of the river," said DeNicola.

Additionally, he said mussels are "filter-feeders" that eat algae and thus improve water quality.

To this point, there have been more than the 521 cubic yards of concrete poured.

PennDOT bought two taverns that were popular with campers to make room for the new bridge. They were the Crystal 2 Pizza and Hoagies, which had windows with views of the river on the East Brady side, and the Bachelors II Bar and Lounge in Bradys Bend Township on the Armstrong County side.