Emergency Closure Of Bridge Over Rail Line Put In Place

Bristol Township officials have implemented an emergency closure of the crumbling Randall Avenue bridge.

The Bristol Township Public Works Department closed the township-owned bridge around 1 p.m. Thursday and are expected to place signs and jersey barriers to block off the span to traffic.

No timeline on reopening the bridge has been laid out, as township officials are working to figure out a plan for repair or reconstruction.

The closure had been proposed this week after parts of the old bridge were spotted falling into the rail lines below. On Thursday, officials said they had to act due to “immediate health, safety and welfare concerns.”

The Randall Avenue bridge that crosses Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor and provides a traffic connection between Route 13 and Radcliffe Street has been in need of work for some time, but deterioration that alarmed township officials was recently observed.

Township Manager Randee Elton said the municipality is discussing the bridge safety concerns with Amtrak, who owns the tracks that run under the span. SEPTA also uses the tracks for their Trenton Regional Rail Line.

The 169-foot bridge in the Edgely section of the township was constructed in 1919 and is listed by PennDOT as being in poor condition.

Using a PennDOT grant, the township is set to put $975,000 worth of repair work into the bridge starting later this spring.

”Bristol Township was awarded a Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant (MTF) in December 2021 in the amount of $975,000. This grant was awarded to fix the previously known Priority One Concerns: repair of the spalled concrete abutments adjacent to the bridge bearings at each corner. The recent report of loose and falling concrete onto the Amtrak railway tracks is a very new issue and concern and is the reason why there is a need for an immediate shut down of the bridge until we can determine if a temporary correction can be safely made,” Elton said Thursday.

Last week, Kurt Schroeder, the township engineer, explained the project aims to repair the abutments that support the bridge by applying a resin to encase the concrete and secure it.

The work is also expected to include resealing of joints, repairs to deteriorating bottom flanges, and repairs to flanges and concrete-encased steel beams. The work will additionally include improvement of stormwater drainage around the span.

However, township officials have said they now are considering a full reconstruction of the span, which often is illegally traversed by vehicles heavier than the 3.5 ton weight limit.

The township manager said they are exploring filing a request to obtain money from the massive federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that became law last year.

“The average daily traffic over the bridge is approximately 400 cars per day with a cost to replace the bridge upwards of $25 million dollars. With so many higher traffic volume bridges with structural deficiencies in this region, we presume that the low volume of traffic does not make this bridge have a high scoring grant application,” Elton said.

Bristol Township officials have been in communication with the offices of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, State Rep. Tina Davis, and State Sen. Steve Santarsiero about the bridge and potential state or federal assistance.

The township has appealed to Amtrak to get help fixing the bridge. Elton has previously said Amtrak has more resources to make repairs to the span.

Elton said township officials and engineers are expected to have a virtual meeting with Amtrak officials next week.

The township is consulting PennDOT on an “acceptable detour route” and will have further updates.

Elton said Kevin Dippolito, the township’s fire marshal, emergency management director, and fire chief, has been working to make sure the impact to emergency crews is lessened.

Dippolito said “changes have been made to the fire and EMS response cards at the 9-1-1 dispatch center to ensure the closest units are sent during the bridge closure.” 

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