Penn Township wins state award for bridge maintenance
Penn Township walked away with an award for having the best bridge improvement project in Pennsylvania in 2024 at the 43rd annual Road and Bridge Safety Improvement Contest, held on Monday, May 5, in Hershey.
The contest — held jointly by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association and PennDOT — honored the best road and bridge improvement projects undertaken in Pennsylvania during 2024.
Penn Township was honored for its efforts to improve Dodds Road with a project which took place between May and November of last year. The project, which required a section of the road to be closed during much of that time, realigned the road to mitigate the risk of water from nearby Thorn Creek flooding it out.
A section of Dodds Road was raised in elevation and moved further away from the creek. The modifications were put to the test in February when waters in Thorn Creek rose after a weekend of rain and snow. Despite the rise in water levels, the creek did not crest onto newly modified Dodds Road.
Assisting Penn Township in its efforts throughout the project were CRS Contracting; Herbert, Rowland & Grubic; the Conoquenessing Watershed Alliance and the state Fish and Boat Commission.
Township manager Linda Zerfoss and township Supervisor Doug Roth made the trip to Hershey to accept the award on behalf of the township.
“I’m just really pleased that we were recognized for the project and we just want to thank everyone involved,” Roth said.
“It’s a pretty big award, and we’re really tickled because all of Pennsylvania could have submitted an application,” said fellow Supervisor Samuel Ward.
