Afternoons around 5 p.m., Justin Zipp heads to the Swatara Creek to check out the day’s progress on the construction of the new bridge on state Route 72.
While some days he stands on the southside of the stream, most days he wanders into the creek to snap photos of that day’s work. Then he ambles back to his home to post the photos and describe what he’s seen on Facebook’s Jonestown Compass page.
By Zipp’s reckoning, he has posted more than 100 commentaries and taken almost 300 photos, although that number increases by three to five depending upon what the contractors have done that day.
“I started taking photos of the work and put it on Facebook, and people said, ‘thank you,’ and loved it,” Zipp said. “So, I figured I would keep doing it until we have a new bridge.”
Work on the Route 72 bridge — that is its official name — began April 18, with Zipp’s first post shortly after, on April 22.
The Route 72 bridge was built in 1930, according to PennDOT’s records. A two-span reinforced concrete arch structure with 12-foot lanes, it was built without shoulders. The parapet had deteriorated in places to the point where it may not have kept vehicles on the bridge if they hit it, PennDOT had said.
Read More: Bridging the 20th and 21st centuries over the Swatara Creek
The new bridge will consist of prestressed concrete beams, a concrete deck and concrete abutments on the stream banks. Guiderails and drainage also will be improved, according to a PennDOT press release.
Cost of the project is estimated at almost $5 million.
PennDOT initially expected the work to be completed in November, but that’s been pushed back to the end of the year.
“We experienced delays due to unforeseen issues related to nesting eagles and some drainage issues along the detour route,” said David Thompson, PennDOT District 8 press officer, in an email.
Eagles are common along this stretch of the Swatara Creek, said Zipp, who has lived close to the Route 72 bridge for more than 15 years. He’s no stranger to the creek either, having played, swam and gone fossil hunting in it as a kid.
As an adult, he’s appreciated the old stone and arch bridges. But until the Route 72 project, bridge construction was new to him, and he’s taken to it. He’s learned the vocabulary of bridges — cofferdams, abutments, keyways – and he’s explained those in his posts so others can learn it, too.
“I try to make sure that I’m not overstepping what I’m saying,” Zipp said. “I look stuff up.”
Surprising to him was how quickly the old bridge was taken apart. Contractors started on the southside, tore up the road and then dismantled the arches. An access road was built into the creek in order to get equipment in and bridge pieces out.
“Most intriguing? Probably the cofferdams and the way that they moved rocks and stone into the water so they could get machines into the water,” Zipp said.
He also has found himself wondering how the original bridge was constructed and how the construction process might have differed almost 100 years ago.
Zipp isn’t sure what’s next for him once the new bridge is completed. He knows that the Market Street bridge in Jonestown has some structural issues and might be a candidate for replacement.
Read More: Lebanon County deliberates future of 3 closed bridges rated ‘poor’ on report card
Should that occur, Zipp might reprise his role as bridge chronicler.
“I hope somebody else will take the reins on the Market Street bridge,” he said. “But if not, I think I will.”
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